New Exempla West Pines Recovery Center Opens;

Will Meet Need for Inpatient Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Treatment

With mental illness and substance abuse a major cost to Colorado employers and the reason nearly 75,000 Coloradoans lost their jobs in 2006, the new Exempla West Pines Recovery Center will help meet a major need in the state for short-term, intensive inpatient care that can return people to healthy, productive lives, according to Glenn Most, PsyD, Director.

Studies compiled by Mental Health America of Colorado (MHA) show that lost productivity and absenteeism related to untreated depression and substance abuse cost businesses in Colorado the equivalent of 17% of their healthcare expenditures in 2006 - and they cost 74,562 employees in Colorado their jobs.

The 20-bed West Pines Recovery Center on the campus of Exempla Behavioral Health at Exempla Lutheran Medical Center is especially designed to treat adults who suffer from both addiction and mental illness, such as depression and anxiety. It will mark its official opening on November 8 and 9, 2008.

On Saturday, November 8, the Recovery Center will host an open house from 10 a.m. to 3. p.m. with its partner, Phoenix Multisport, a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster a supportive, physically active community for individuals who are recovering from alcohol and substance abuse

On Sunday, November 9, The West Pines Recovery Center will present a special performance of "Addiction Free: The Road from Hell" in partnership with Denver's acclaimed Stories on Stage.

The play, which premiered in March at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, was created by Norma Moore, the artistic director of Stories on Stage, from memoirs of recovery by Frances Kuffel ( Passing for Thin), William Cope Moyers ( Broken), Augusten Burroughs ( Dry), Kate Braverman ( Squandering the Blue) and Elizabeth Wurtzel ( More . . . Now. . . Again).

"The Exempla West Pines Recovery Center makes a significant addition to mental health and addiction treatment programs in our state, especially at a time when other facilities are having to cut back their programs," said Robert Malte, President and CEO of Exempla Lutheran Medical Center.

The Recovery Center uses a unique, two-week, in-patient program, where patients are housed in a hotel-like facility. The program takes a holistic approach that combines the most current evidence-based, clinical treatment with exercise, acupuncture and mindfulness.

The centerpiece of the West Pines holistic approach is "The Playground," a sports and fitness center featuring a rock climbing wall. The Playground will be used by outpatients as well as inpatients - and by the broader sober community in Metro Denver.

Fitness and sports programming at The Playground will be provided by Exempla West Pines' partner, Phoenix Multisport, which will also offer programming in the evenings at the West Pines Recovery Center for those already in recovery. The free activities will include climbing, yoga, strength training, walks and runs.

"These programs will introduce people in recovery to a strong, sober network of new friends who understand what they are experiencing," said Scott Strode, founder of Phoenix Multisport.

The whole West Pines Recovery Center program - including family involvement, intensive outpatient care and aftercare -- is designed to get patients on the road to a successful recovery at an affordable cost.

"We believe that recovery should be within everyone's reach. For those who do not have the means for our programs, we have created the West Pines Recovery Scholarship Fund through the new Lutheran Medical Center Foundation," said Most.

According to a study conducted in 2003 for the Mental Health Funders Collaborative, TheStatus of Mental Health Care in Colorado, one out of five Coloradoans need mental health care each year, but less than one out of three actually receive care.

"This results in suicide, lost productivity, homelessness, and over-use of other health services, among other costs, for the one in seven people each year who go untreated," according to the study.

Many of those who suffer from mental illness also suffer from addiction. According to the MHA, 29% of those diagnosed with mental illness also abuse either alcohol or drugs, and "thirty-seven percent of alcohol abusers and fifty three-percent of drug abusers also have at least one serious mental illness."

The risk for addiction and psychological distress is especially high for young adults, 18 to 25. A survey in 2006 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) showed that more than 25% of Colorado's young adults abused alcohol or illicit drugs. More than 18% had suffered a serious psychological distress.

The SAMHSA survey also showed that about 9% of young adults in Colorado needed treatment for drug addiction, but were not receiving it. More than 20% needed treatment for alcohol abuse and were not receiving it.

"The good news in all the statistics, though, is that treatment does work," said Most. For instance, according to the MHA, treatments for depression have an 80% success rate, "a higher rate of recovery than many physical health conditions."

Strode points out that exercise is especially effective for treating substance abuse, citing a Canadian study that concluded "69 percent of subjects whose treatment program included a daily regimen of vigorous exercise remained clean and sober at three months following completion of treatment," while only 38 percent remained sober who had not had exercise as part of their treatment program.

The Exempla West Pines Recovery Center is located at 3400 Lutheran Parkway in Wheat Ridge. More information about The West Pines Recovery Center can be found at www.Exempla.org, or by calling 303-467-4080. More information about Phoenix Multisport is available at www.phoenixmultisport.org.

Ex empla Healthcare is a not-for-profit, community-based health care system that manages two of Denver, Colorado's most respected hospitals, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center, Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital and the newest, Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center. Exempla is sponsored by the LMC Community Foundation and the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, and is dedicated to fostering healing and health to the people and communities it serves.