Vail Health has become the world?s most advanced mountain healthcare system. Vail Health consists of an updated 520,000-square-foot, 56-bed hospital. This state-of-the-art facility provides exceptional care to all of our patients, with the most beautiful views in the area, located centrally in Vail. Learn more about Vail Health here.
About the opportunity:
The Peer Support Specialist at Vail Health plays a crucial role in providing trauma-informed, strength-based, and client-centered support to individuals experiencing a behavioral health acute crisis or navigating the continuum of Behavioral Health care. Crisis Peer Support Specialists provide direct emergency and crisis assessment services through our community-wide 24/7 crisis and co-mobile response in a manner that aligns with specific regulatory and contractual requirements set forth by our Regional Accountable Entity and the Behavioral Health Authority (BHA). This position also maintains a select caseload of high-acuity patients, services as the 2765 Clinical Team lead, and provides coverage as needed. The Peer Support Specialist provides direct patient care, as well as collaborates with a wide array of healthcare and community resources to ensure that clients receive comprehensive, equitable care and stay connected to healthcare services for optimal health outcomes.
What you will do:
24/7 Crisis Response: Provides direct patient care through participation in mobile crisis response (paired response) to assess individuals in behavioral health crises, ensuring evidence-based de-escalation, evaluation, triage, intervention, and safety planning.
Behavioral Health and Crisis Evaluations: Conducts urgent, comprehensive mental health evaluations for individuals seeking acute behavioral health care, including crisis intervention and evidenced-based risk assessments across Vail Health Behavioral Health clinics, the Precourt Healing Center, and the community. Completes crisis evaluations in a manner compliant with internal, state, and legal regulations including the BHA rules governing crisis response.
Therapeutic Services: Provides trauma-informed and culturally responsive peer support services that are patient-centered and reduce barriers to engagement. This includes short-term support interventions, 7 day a week stabilization services, and crisis resolution in both community and clinic settings, ensuring individuals are supported during and after a crisis. This may include individual, family, couples, and group intervention across the entire service line or within the community.
Intensive Outpatient Support: Facilitates and supports group therapy sessions for adults and adolescents, delivering evidence-based interventions and case management. Assists in biweekly therapeutic or medical visits, treatment team meetings, or consultations.
Co-Location and Immediate Care Access: Works in a co-located setting within the Edwards Community Health Campus to provide immediate access to high acuity behavioral health services and ensure smooth transitions between crisis stabilization and other levels of care.
Continuity of Care: Supports individuals as they transition from acute crisis stabilization to long-term care, ensuring appropriate referrals and continued support in outpatient settings. Coordinates post-crisis care with community-based providers, ensuring timely follow-up and engagement with ongoing treatment programs or case management.
Collaboration and Coordination: Collaborates closely with law enforcement, paramedics, physicians, and other behavioral health professionals to create individualized treatment plans and ensure seamless care delivery across all levels of service. Collaborates with peer support specialists, case managers, and other critical staff to ensure holistic care and support for individuals in acute need.
Documentation and Compliance: Maintains accurate, timely documentation of assessments, interventions, progress notes, and treatment plans, in accordance with clinical standards and regulatory requirements. All crisis documentation must be completed prior to completion of crisis shift and acute documentation must be completed within 24 hours.
Clinical and Documentation: Maintains excellence in clinical documentation in alignment with local, internal, state, federal, and regulatory standards and compliance. Maintains excellence in patient care delivery and is up-to-date on changing law, regulations, or research that may impact care delivery.
On-Call and Rotational Support: The role requires flexibility in shift scheduling, with on-call duties rotating on a regular basis to ensure 24/7 program coverage. Typical shifts may include days, evenings, nights, and weekends.
Burnout Prevention: Clinicians rotate leading organizational wellness initiatives, including routine debriefing sessions and peer support programs designed to prevent burnout and promote work-life balance.
Serves as a community leader providing outreach, education, engagement across the community as needed.
Role models the principles of a Just Culture and Organizational Values.
Perform other duties as assigned. Must be HIPAA compliant.
This description is not intended and should not be construed to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills and efforts or work conditions associated with the job. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the general nature and level of the job.
What you will need:
Experience:
Experience in health care or community settings preferred.
Experience with fast moving and high acuity situations preferred.
Experience working in a collaborative team setting is strongly preferred.
Knowledge of local behavioral health resources, substance use presentation and transitions to higher levels of care, co-response models, community services, and referral pathways preferred.
Eligible for Medicare, Medicaid, and third-party reimbursement.
License(s):
Current, valid Colorado driver?s license, with ability to pass Vail Health?s Department of Motor Vehicle Report required.
Certification(s):
Completion of OwnPath?s Crisis Professional Curriculum (CPC) 40 hour course prior to start date.
Completion of Odyssey Training Center Crisis Training Curriculum prior to start date.
Computer / Typing:
Must possess, or be able to obtain within 90 days, the computers skills necessary to complete online learning requirements for job-specific competencies, access online forms and policies, complete online benefits enrollment, etc
Must have working knowledge of the English language, including reading, writing, and speaking English.
Vail Health, formerly Vail Valley Medical Center, is a nonprofit community health care system serving patients and guests from around the world. Locally operated and governed by a volunteer board of directors, Vail Health includes a 56-bed hospital, accredited by the Joint Commission. Our 24/7 emergency department in Vail is a Level III Trauma Center with a nearby helipad for necessary medical transports. Vail Health provides a wide array of services and access points including Beaver Creek Medical Center, urgent care clinics in Avon and Gypsum, our Edwards medical campus, Eagle Healthcare Center and a multispecialty clinic in Frisco. Howard Head Sports Medicine offers physical therapy services at 10 locations and works closely with our internationally renowned orthopaedic partners at The Steadman Clinic and Vail-Summit Orthopaedics. In addition, Vail Health's Shaw Cancer Center and Sonnenalp Breast Center are the region’s only fully accredited cancer treatment center and comprehensive breast center. The Vail Clinic, which was founded in 1965, officially became “Vail Valley Medical Center” in 1980, its first year as a full-service hospital. At that time, we had one primary locatio...n and 25 physicians. Today, Vail Health has locations in nine towns, nearly 1,000 employees, 260 physician partners and 85 volunteers. Vail Health is an equal-opportunity employer. The hospital is handicap accessible and adheres to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Smoking is prohibited in our facilities. This includes e-cigarettes.