December 12, 2025
Denver Health unveiled Colorado’s first Integrated Medical and Psychiatric Care Unit (IMAP), a 12-bed inpatient unit that treats adult patients with active medical and active psychiatric conditions that require hospitalization at the same time.
Opening the IMAP Care Unit was made possible thanks to Denver voters passing 2024 ballot measure 2Q to provide sustainable sales tax funding for Denver Health. This funding enabled Denver Health to renovate a former inpatient psychiatric unit that was closed due to a lack of funding. Now, IMAP offers an innovative model of care that less than 3% of health systems provide nationwide.
“Denver residents placed their trust in us when they approved 2Q, and the IMAP is a direct result of that support,” said Donna Lynne, CEO of Denver Health. “Our community needs more access to behavioral health care, and we’re delivering on our promise to meet the needs of our community with innovative, high-quality care.”
In the IMAP Care Unit, patients receive specialized, efficient care that meets their physical and mental health needs at the same time. IMAP offers medical and psychiatric services all in one unit, including intensive psychotherapy, occupational and physical therapy, medication management, withdrawal stabilization and more from an interdisciplinary team of medical and psychiatric providers.
“As a dually trained medical and psychiatric provider, I’ve seen so many patients who would have benefitted from the integrated care IMAP provides,” said Bobbie Jo Dodson, DO, program director of the Integrated Medical and Psychiatric Care Unit. “Opening this unit fulfills a career-long dream of mine because it ensures patients with complex medical and psychiatric needs are met with the timely, high-quality care they deserve.”
Denver Health is the largest behavioral health provider in the city and county of Denver, serving 126,000 patients last year with services including psychiatric emergency care, inpatient and outpatient behavioral health treatment, and a variety of addiction services. IMAP adds to this extensive list of specialized services Denver Health offers to the community.
“I always try to remind people that the brain is a part of the body and that every medical diagnosis is a behavioral health issue,” Christian Thurstone, MD, chair of behavioral health at Denver Health, said. “The IMAP is the embodiment of these ideas and Denver Health is the perfect place to offer this kind of resource to the community.
IMAP demonstrates Denver Health’s continued commitment to meeting the needs of the city’s most vulnerable residents, providing a model of integrated care that bridges behavioral health and medical services. The unit’s multidisciplinary team includes psychiatrists, hospitalists, nurses, therapists and behavioral health specialists working together to deliver integrated treatment.
