Jessica Plummer new deputy administrator of Behavioral Health Services

A founding department staff member, Jessica Plummer has stepped into the new role of deputy administrator for Larimer County Behavioral Health Services (BHS), which oversees the community's dedicated mental health and substance-use funds.

The addition of this sixth position comes at a time when the department is expanding and deepening its strategy to invest dollars generated by the voter-approved 20-year sales-and-use tax. 

“As our department enters its next chapter, I am eager to step into this new role to support our collective strategy with the same dedicated stewardship of our infrastructure and the one-of-a-kind public-private partnership at the Acute Care facility at Longview campus,” Plummer said. “Building this department’s investment framework has allowed me to merge disciplined operational oversight with a forward-thinking strategy.”

What started as BHS’ grant program and construction and operations of our community’s dedicated behavioral health crisis care center has since grown to include intentional investments in the behavioral health workforce, a fund to incentivize organizations to work together and reduce duplication, and more.

After the tax passed in 2018 with 61% voter approval, the BHS department launched with several employees, including Plummer. She has served as the program manager for six years, building from scratch and later refining the annual Impact Fund grant program. In that time, she managed a portfolio of more than 270 grants totaling more than $17.7 million, “ensuring that every dollar invested strengthens our local behavioral health ecosystem.” 

“I deeply appreciate the foundation Jessica has built and the high degree of credibility and trust that she’s earned from our community partners,” said Director Amy Martonis. “I know she’ll continue to bring a high level of expertise and focus on relationships to her new role.” 

In addition to overseeing BHS’ investment strategy, Plummer and other county staff support non-clinical operations – think food services, security, facilities needs – at the Acute Care facility at Longview campus. Larimer County contracts with SummitStone Health Partners for clinical services. Both teams collaborate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars at the facility.

Prior to joining the inaugural BHS team in 2020, she was a financial analyst with Larimer County’s Human Services Department, responsible for analyzing a $50 million portfolio of federal, state, and county funding.

In several roles, between 2007-2018, she worked as a grants and contracts manager for the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Master Resilience Training Program to the U.S. Army; co-led a start-up department that incubated new initiatives to advance UPenn’s online presence; and managed contracts for Bongo, a start-up software company. She also has experience in service management, catering, and emergency services.

Plummer holds a bachelor’s degree in Health and Exercise Science from Syracuse University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Alaska Southeast. She is a GiveNext and Regional Opioid Abatement Council committee member, and volunteers with Timberline Church, Serve 6.8, and Poudre School District.