A message of optimism
According to CDPHE figures, Eagle County (which includes Vail) had 61 suicides from 2018-2022 and Grand County had 19. Summit County (which includes Breckenridge, Dillon, Silverthorne and Frisco) had 24 (2018-21).
In 2019, Vail Health committed $160 million over 10 years to attack the problem by improving mental health resources in the county. At the time, patients in crisis had to travel two or more hours to receive in-patient care. Now a 50,000-squarefoot, 28-bed in-patient facility is being built in Edwards and is due to open early in 2025. In 2019, there were no fulltime licensed clinical providers in county schools. Now every school has one.
At the forefront of those efforts has been Chris Lindley, chief population health officer at Vail Health, who is mostly pleased with the way the film turned out.
“I think it’s a great documentation of the issues that are facing the rural and mountain communities of Colorado, Utah, California,” Lindley said. “The rural resort communities, I think they did a great job talking about those challenges of living in those communities, accessing behavioral health care, and the lifestyle we see in many of those communities because they are resort-driven communities that attract a lot of folks that are coming there on vacation to party, and the challenge that creates for the community living there.”
He wishes the film had “a stronger message of optimism and hope” that could encourage other communities to approach the problem as a community priority, the way Eagle County has. The film holds up the Eagle Valley approach as a model for other communities.
“We’ve seen a transformation of our behavior health system in our valley in four short years,” Lindley said. “We’ve brought in a lot of new services, programs. We have many new providers in the community. We have a co-response system that’s now in place that I believe is the best in the state. It’s available 24/7 for free for anybody in our community. We have clinicians in every school. There are many great things taking place by many of our partners that were not highlighted in this film. My one hope would be that we find ways to share the stories of all of our partners, because they’re all doing amazing work up here that’s really moving the needle for all of us.”
Eagle County has rallied to the cause as a widespread community effort attacking the problem on multiple fronts, Lindley stressed.
“This is not one organization, one person, one group leading it,” Lindley said. “It’s local governments, from the county to the towns to the school district, the largest employer groups, multiple non-profit organizations. It’s Vail Health, the hospital system, Colorado Mountain Medical. It’s folks leaning in and identifying behavioral health as a priority, and all of us trusting each other to tackle and work on the issue.”
Still, Eagle County had a record 17 suicides in 2022.
A spiritual challenge
Miller, who won more Olympic medals and World Cup races than any other American man in skiing, believes providing expert resources can only go so far. He believes social alienation and superficial human interaction is partly to blame for mental health crises.
“For me, this is a philosophical, spiritual, cultural challenge,” Miller said. “I think the solution comes from individuals. And in that sense, I’m hopeful, because I think everybody wants the same thing regardless of your race or political