CASPER, Wyo. –– Many people suffering mental health crisis need immediate help, but the lack of available resources and options all too often lead to emergency room trips, police visits, or even tragedy.
A Cheyenne-based business hopes to alleviate that by offering Casper patients instant access to mental health care with a walk-in model.
“It can be for individuals who maybe notice a change in behavior for someone in their family or a friend,” said LIV Health President and CEO Emily Loos, “and can relieve that burden on our emergency rooms, because a lot of people will go into the ER in crisis when they don’t necessarily need that level of care.
It’s treated just like regular urgent care, you come in, and it’s first come, first serve.”
The idea is to offer a less complicated and time-consuming option for people ages 5 and up who don’t necessarily need an ER visit or to be institutionalized. “Our goal is to stabilize patients who come in who are in crisis,” she said. They can also serve as a bridge for patients when their therapist is unavailable for whatever reason and they need same-day care, and can work with families who may have a child or partner in crisis.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a crisis visit, but let’s say they are testing the waters about talking to someone, and just want to see how it goes,” she said. “They can walk in and see a therapist for same-day counseling.”
Loos said the clinic can offer options for parents and schools who have young people in crisis, but who don’t necessarily need to be admitted into a full-time facility. “We want it to be less invasive, and we want it to be a place where parents can get questions answered,” she said. “Yes, it [may be] a referral for an inpatient hospitalization depending on the situation, but depends on the needs of the patient, of course, we want to make sure that they’re safe and have the appropriate treatment.”
The idea is still novel in mental health care, said Loos. There are some similar clinics in other states, but only a relative handful. Wyoming continues to struggle with one of the country’s highest suicide rates per-capita, making the need for more mental health care particularly urgent.
LIV Health started in 2014 doing mostly in-home mental health visits. Over time, they realized just how desperate people were for instant care, so they decided to open an urgent care facility in 2023 in Cheyenne. “That’s been really incredible and that’s why we’re expanding, hoping to offer more mental health throughout Wyoming and other areas,” she said. They recently opened a facility in northern Colorado, but hope to mainly focus on growing in Wyoming.
Two credentialed health professionals have been hired for the clinic so far, which is aiming to open in February. Their initial plan is to be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and eventually operate from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, with Saturday hours from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There will be telehealth options for overflow days, but their aim is to have person-to-person contact. “We want our patients to have somebody in person there, and our goal will be to see what the volume is in Casper, and then hire accordingly,” she said.
The Casper LIV Health clinic is scheduled to open in February, 2026. It will be located at 6631 East 2nd Street, Suite 200. Their phone number is 307-277-0652, and they can be found online here.
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