Colorado mental health clinic breaks barriers and improves health equity for minorities.
Colorado’s Axis Integrated Mental Health Clinic offers a variety of treatments to help people struggling with mental health issues. The clinic also prides itself on working with patients regardless of their insurance plan. Some even waive the cost for those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it.
One of the treatments the clinic offers to Medicaid patients is transcranial magnetic stimulation, also known as TMS. This is a therapy used to treat major depressive disorder. The cost of treatment can range from $6,000 to $12,000. In Colorado, the cost is not covered for Medicaid patients.
Maria Casillas of Commerce City is one of the patients who would not have been able to benefit from this treatment without the clinic.
TMS uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain associated with mood regulation, which Casillas says has been a game-changer for her.
“I feel much better than I felt,” Casillas said in Spanish.
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After trying countless antidepressants and even Spravato, she had lost all hope of overcoming her depression. It was only after trying TMS that she quickly began to notice changes in her mood.
“I’ve had other treatments and they didn’t work as well as this one,” Casillas said.
The noninvasive treatment is about 80% effective in patients, although its price could be a drawback, especially for people without insurance or on Medicaid.
Liesl Perez, co-founder of Axis, believes in making a difference by providing care to people in underserved communities.
“Since we began, our clinic has provided $300,000 in free mental health care to patients who needed it most,” Perez said.
The clinic opened in 2020 and has now expanded to three clinics in total, Aurora, Westminster and Louisville.
“For the populations we serve, it’s incredibly important,” Perez said. “People don’t realize they can afford mental health care, they don’t know how to navigate the system.”
Serving patients like Casillas for free by providing TMS therapy through its pro bono program.
“It was like a miracle,” she said. “I never thought this treatment would be free for me, until now.”
Through this program, the clinic aims to increase health equity, particularly among people in minority communities who face barriers to mental health services.
“We heal family systems and we heal a lot of generational trauma that comes with mental illness,” Perez said.
TMS therapy is currently covered by eighteen state Medicaid programs, although Colorado is not one of them, this clinic aims to help those seeking the therapy regardless of their insurance plan.
