Aurora Mental Health Center Leadership

Born and raised in the Denver Metro area, Dr. Garrett-Mills has worked in multiple capacities at Aurora Mental Health Center both administrative and in direct care for the last eleven years. She is an alumni of Denver’s George Washington High School and Oberlin College in Ohio. She graduated medical school at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and returned home to complete a psychiatric residency at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and has been practicing psychiatry locally for more than 20 years.

Her special interests include diverse populations, adult patients with developmental delay, and/or with complex medical, psychiatric and addiction problems. Over the years she has worked as a psychiatrist for a number of specialty clinics serving monolingual Spanish speakers, refugees, homeless adolescents, African immigrants, Asian Pacific Development Center and a number of other programs designed to meet the mental health needs of patients who are traditionally underserved.

She has served on a number of community boards and provided pro-bono education and presentations around mental health for various community organizations. Prior to coming to Aurora Mental Health Center, Dr. Garrett-MIlls was a psychiatrist at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan and Colorado Coalition for the Homeless where she served in both a clinical and administrative role. Her special interest includes, hiking, reading and STEM education. She has spent her free time volunteering in the metro area organizing various supplemental education programs, writing curriculum for STEM programs, and running a local science camp for middle school students.

Kathie Snell is a COO at Aurora Mental Health Center.

Kelly Phillips-Henry is a Chief Executive Officer at Aurora Mental Health Center. She has experience at United States Air Force Academy.

Lori Banks is the Chief Operating Officer for the Community Crisis Connection (CCC), a consortium comprised of six Denver/Boulder community mental health centers. CCC provides crisis response services to nearly 3 million Coloradans in a nine-county region of the state. Lori brings a wealth of experience in the mental health and human services field to her present position. Most recently, she served as the director of quality assurance and standards in the Division of Behavioral Health at the Colorado Department of Human Services. For 13 years, Lori was associated with the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan in Denver. She began as a social worker on the admissions team, then advanced to clinical team leader in the aftercare and family care programs at the Institute. Lori holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Denver, with a concentration on children, youth and families.

Deanna Graves joined the Center in 2017, bringing nearly 25 years of healthcare experience to the organization. After 14 years as Controller for several organizations, she transitioned into a 10-year career in behavioral healthcare. Deanna went on to a long-term acute-care hospital as Chief Financial Officer before advancing to CEO of the organization, where she served for 11 years.

In this role, she received Administrator of the Year award in 2007. Deanna received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and Business Administration with a minor in Economics at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, where she received several honors and graduated summa cum laude. She continues to enjoy the daily challenges of the evolving healthcare world.