Vail Health breaks ground on Precourt Healing Center

Vail Health on Friday issued the following press release on the groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday for the Precourt Healing Center in Edwards:

On Thursday, September 1, Vail Health Foundation hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Precourt Healing Center, a 50,000-square-foot inpatient behavioral health facility centrally located at the Edwards Community Health Campus. The facility is the next step in Vail Health and Eagle Valley Behavioral Health’s (EVBH) efforts to transform behavioral health care in the Eagle River Valley.

“Our vision for the Precourt Healing Center is to provide adolescents and adults with access to quality inpatient behavioral health close to home – a critical need in Eagle County and our surrounding communities,” said Will Cook, Vail Health President and CEO. “Previously, people in crisis had to travel two hours to either Grand Junction or Denver to access this type of care. There was an identified gap between discharge and the continuation of care afterward. The Precourt Healing Center will allow our friends, neighbors, and family members to remain within our community for care and ensure they do not fall through the cracks after they leave the facility.”

The three-story Vail Health’s Precourt Healing Center will offer:

• 24-hour behavioral health care serving adults and adolescents in crisis (ages 12+)
• 28 total beds for short-term stays and treatment
• Behavioral health services in English and Spanish
• Structured behavioral health services that prioritize crisis resolution, safety, and stabilization
• Family support, intervention, and engagement
• Comprehensive case management across the community continuum of care 
• Collaborative community-based discharge planning

The new center was made possible by a generous gift from the Precourt family.

“We are extremely grateful to Jay Precourt and his daughter, Amanda, for their ongoing support of the It Takes A Valley campaign,” said Vail Health Foundation President Dan Pennington. “Since the beginning, they have been tremendous partners in our efforts to transform behavioral health.”

The Precourt Healing Center will be staffed by a comprehensive interdisciplinary team that includes psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, nurses, and alternative therapists. Individual treatment plans will prioritize safety and stabilization and provide sustainable treatment options that prioritize total health. 

“It’s just remarkable what Vail Health is doing to advance behavioral health programming and support in our community,” said Amanda Precourt, who serves on the Eagle Valley Behavioral Health Board and Vail Health Foundation Board. “Our family hopes others will be inspired to give to the It Takes A Valley campaign. Together, we are saving lives.” 

Construction of the Precourt Healing Center is set to begin in September, following the Labor Day holiday, and completion of the project is expected by Spring 2025. 

“The Precourt Healing Center will be a critical milestone in continuing our mission to elevate health across our mountain communities and is crucial in our battle against the behavioral health crisis in the state and our valley,” said Chris Lindley, EVBH Executive Director and Vail Health Chief Population Health Officer. “We are honored to be able to provide focused care for people in crisis closer to their homes, and we are grateful for the generosity of the Precourt family to make this possible.”

Attendees of the groundbreaking ceremony also took a self-guided tour of the new Wiegers Mental Health Clinic, which will offer intensive outpatient behavioral health programming, group therapy, specialty psychiatric services, and comprehensive psychological evaluations. The clinic, also located on the Edwards Community Health Campus, is named in recognition of a generous gift from the George and Betsy Wiegers Family Foundation and is scheduled to open in early 2023.