The Program for Public Psychiatry: State-University Collaboration in Colorado
Gordon Neligh M.D.1,
James H. Shore M.D.2,
James Scully M.D.2,
Haydee Kort M.D.,
Brock Willett M.D.3,
Courtenay M. Harding Ph.D.1, and
George Kawamura M.S.W.4
1 University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver
2 Department of psychiatry at the center
3 Fort Logan Mental Health Center in Denver
4 Division of Mental Health in Denver
Address correspondence to Dr. Neligh at Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, 4200 East Ninth Avenue, Box C249, Denver, Colorado 80262
A major focus of state-university collaboration programs in psychiatry has been providing services and manpower from the university to the public mental health system which in turns provides valuable educational experiences to the university. The Program for Public Psychiatry, a state-university collaboration program in Colorado, was founded on a 25-year relationship between the department of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and the Colorado Division of Mental Health. The program has enabled Colorado's two state hospitals and most of its urban community mental health centers to almost completely fill previously vacant psychiatric positions. The collaboration has expanded to include programs for forensic psychiatry and developmental disabilities, as well as to fund educational and research missions in developing the public psychiatric work force.
