Mind Springs History

We care about your mental health and we can help when you need us.

Whatever the mental health concern and whatever the age, Mind Springs Health is here for you and your family with a full-range of evidence-based, effective mental health and addiction services.  We are the largest provider of mental health care services on the western slope.

1 in every 4 people experiences mental health and/or addiction challenges and many wrestle with both. From the Eisenhower Tunnel to the Utah border across our 10-county area, you can find outpatient therapy and counseling at numerous convenient Mind Springs Health locations.  Mental health and addiction are sensitive subjects and we encourage you to learn more about the help available. It’s okay to reach out to us with any questions you may have.

We treat a large scope of behavioral health care needs, from prevention services like Mental Health First Aid courses and our Positive Psychology/Resiliency program, to outpatient services and in-community services like school-based mental health initiatives.

For those in need of psychiatric hospitalization, we are affiliated with West Springs Hospital, an inpatient facility located in Grand Junction treating patients from all of Colorado and beyond. The new, state-of-the-art 63,000 square foot building opened in December 2018.

The Mind Springs Health Story

Nearing our 50th Anniversary of providing therapy & counseling to western Colorado communities, Mind Springs Health started in 1972 as the not-for-profit 501 (c) 3 corporation ‘Colorado West’ after a spate of suicides in Grand County spurred local mental health practitioners to join together.

In the ’80s and ’90s, the organization service area grew to 13 offices and provided services to 10 counties across 23,000 square miles of Northwestern Colorado. The ’00s were not particularly kind to the Colorado West Regional Mental Health network, which struggled to find stability in clinical, operational and fiscal areas. Yet in 2005, when all existing western slope psychiatric units were closing, Mind Springs Health stepped up and established the only psychiatric hospital between Denver and Salt Lake City – the original 32-bed West Springs Hospital.  A few years later in 2008, longtime Executive Director Ken Stein, who had overseen much of the organization’s expansion, retired. Shortly thereafter, enter Sharon Raggio LPC LMFT.  As CEO & President of Mind Springs Health & West Springs Hospital, Sharon engineered an organizational turnaround and has been the architect of many of our successes since.

To better reflect enormous and positive change, what once was known as Colorado West transformed in 2013 into Mind Springs Health. Since then Mind Springs Health has become known as the choice for local mental health care, combining effective, evidence-based therapies with  a philosophy that places special focus on our clients and collaboration within our local communities.