System transformation in Mental Health: How the Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD) is becoming a Recovery-Oriented Center

System transformation in Mental Health has been championed for more than two decades by both advocates and the Federal Government. However, despite all the effort invested, very few centers can demonstrate changes that show transformation in their day to day operation. In this presentation, we describe our efforts to transform MHCD into an outcomes-based, recovery-oriented mental health center. We will describe the combination of fortuitous circumstances which converted into opportunities for change at multiple levels of the organization. The systemic changes described in this presentation have included: 1) the development of core values and principles based on the belief that people can and do recover from mental illness, 2) The development of a recovery committee composed of multiple stakeholders that helped mold and oversee our vision, 3) The development of instruments and their use to drive changes in clinical practices and the creation of more effective and efficient services. 4) More importantly, the commitment from the board of directors and the Executive Management to create a center that achieves our mission of “Enriching lives and minds by focusing on strengths and recovery”. We further demonstrate how this paradigm shift is paying off in terms of more efficient, effective and clinically sound changes in the organization practices, as well as the wealth of information we have gained about what drives recovery. Finally, we share the lessons we have learned throughout this process, so other centers might benefit from our learning as they move forward though the path toward system transformation.