A recently expanded health care resource in the south metro area, Centennial Hospital, wants to spread the word about its mental health programs as the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on people’s well-being.

“We want to let our Centennial community know that they’re not alone,” said Rachel Robinson, a spokesperson for Centennial Hospital.

The HealthONE Behavioral Health and Wellness Center at Centennial Hospital offers outpatient behavioral health services to adults and adolescents. “Outpatient” care means treatment that is provided without a patient being admitted for a hospital stay.

“And we’re proud to offer adult therapy in the evenings to accommodate those who need flexibility around their work schedule,” Robinson said.

Centennial Hospital expanded from the former Centennial Medical Plaza in 2021. The hospital, like the plaza before it, is affiliated with The Medical Center of Aurora. The Centennial campus sits at Arapahoe and Jordan roads, just west of Parker Road.

The Centennial location initially opened its behavioral health services in 2019. Behavioral health is a blanket term that generally includes mental health.

After “extensive collaboration” with community partners — such as physicians, local therapists and schools — the Centennial team was able to determine a need for more intensive behavioral health support, said Whitney Kearney, a director of behavioral health services with the HealthONE system.

Different locations of the HealthONE Behavioral Health and Wellness Center sit in Aurora, Centennial and the Ken Caryl area near Littleton. The center is expanding to Denver on the campus of Rose Medical Center within the next couple months, Robinson said.

Here is a look at the types of care the Centennial location offers.

Meeting the need

The Centennial campus provides behavioral health services regardless of where a person lives, Kearney said.

“We are designed to support both the immediate and extended community need,” said Kearney, a director with the Centennial Behavioral Health and Wellness Center location. “We also offer in-person and telehealth services to provide treatment to a large scope of population.”

Telehealth means the providing of health care or public-health activities remotely via telecommunications technology, such as videoconferencing.

“Our program offers a group therapy approach to support individuals on their wellness journey,” Kearney said. “With a curriculum founded in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), we offer an extensive number of skills to help individuals with emotion regulation, coping and interpersonal relationships.”

The Centennial location is exploring additional mental health and substance-specific treatment opportunities and is looking forward to continued program growth, Kearney said.

Asked whether the Centennial location’s services differ from the care at other Medical Center of Aurora locations or other HealthONE locations in the Denver metro area, Kearney said: “The general structure of the intensive outpatient program is the same, but different tracks offer different material based on the specific population.”

Overall, mental health needs among Centennial-area patients do not seem to differ from needs at other locations, according to Robinson.

For more info

Type of health insurance — or lack of insurance — shouldn’t be a barrier to treatment, Kearney said.

“We have contracts with all major insurance providers, although coverage can look different based on each policy’s behavioral health coverage,” Kearney said. “We also offer self-pay for individuals without insurance.”

The public can reach the main program line to ask about services at 303-360-3736.

Asked about how to manage anxiety and depression in everyday life, particularly amid the pandemic, Kearney said:

“We encourage individuals to ensure they are taking care of themselves first and foremost — from nutrition to sleep, movement (and) exercise, and social engagement. In addition, maintaining routine and structure can be extremely beneficial in reducing anxiety as predictability and control can help combat these feelings.”