“The shame and silence around mental health nearly cost me my life; breaking that silence has become my life’s purpose.” – Amanda Precourt
Patients at the newly opened Precourt Healing Center will benefit from thoughtfully designed trauma-informed spaces that promote healing. The center represents not just an innovative inpatient mental health facility but the culmination of Jay and Amanda Precourt’s remarkable father-daughter journey. In this candid piece, Amanda shares her story and the path that led to creating this transformative center.
A Silent Struggle
I grew up between Denver and Vail, with the mountains shaping my earliest memories—skiing by age two, playing for hours in Gore Creek. On the surface, it appeared as if I was excelling in all ways. At Stanford University, I was a collegiate athlete and honors student. However, privately, I had been navigating a silent battle since I was 15. The anxiety I carried quietly for years escalated during college. I began suffering from frequent debilitating panic attacks and other symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Doctors looked for physical causes, but the root was harder to name.
It wasn’t until the spring of my sophomore year that my mother revealed her own lifelong struggle with anxiety and depression. Her honesty was meaningful, as it led doctors to prescribe daily medication for my anxiety. Yet, it also confirmed a message I had already absorbed—my diagnosis was something to hide. For years, I blamed myself for how I felt, believing I was somehow broken.
The Turning Point
After two decades of silently taking my medication, everything collapsed when I was 37. Due to a series of injuries sustained while helicopter skiing, I underwent several major orthopedic surgeries and had many steroid injections in my spine. The chronic pain, medications, and stress took a toll. I barely slept for a year and a half. My adrenal glands and ovaries stopped producing all reproductive hormones, ultimately wreaking havoc in my body. I was falling apart.
I hit rock bottom when I attempted to throw myself from a moving car on I-70. My mother’s quick reflexes saved my life. What followed was a 15-week inpatient stay that broke me open in ways I never expected.
In the desperation and darkness, I found clarity. I realized how many people could not get access to the level of care I was receiving. I had survived for a reason. My purpose became clear: I wanted to speak honestly and outwardly about what I had been through. I needed to use my experience to help others feel less alone. I wanted to save lives.
Creating a Legacy With My Father
In 2018, Chris Lindley asked me to share my story to encourage Vail Health to launch a new behavioral health initiative in the Eagle River Valley. Without hesitation, I said yes. After many years of keeping my mental health struggles silent, I spoke openly and directly to the Vail Health Board. My father was the first board member to approve $60 million to fund our initiative. After that board meeting, Jay and I cried together. And then we got to work.
We became determined to support our vision to reshape behavioral health care and build an inpatient hospital in our community. The Precourt Healing Center is informed by my lived experience, intentionally designed and built differently from any other inpatient setting I had encountered. When patients and their families walk through the doors, I hope they feel peace, dignity, and safety.
Jay passed in the fall of 2024. Sadly, he was never able to see the Precourt Healing Center completed. However, in spring 2025, the center was dedicated in Jay’s honor. I miss Jay daily, and I know his presence is constant. I’m proud of the legacy we created together, made possible by harnessing collaboration and a shared vision to build a beacon of hope for our mountain community. This place is a living legacy for all involved in its creation.
The Precourt Healing Center exceeds all my expectations. The facility is visually stunning and clinically innovative, and provides a comfortable and safe environment for adults and adolescents who are acutely struggling. I am honored that my father and I provided the lead gift together, which fostered the support of many generous benefactors. The real heroes, however, are the many dedicated Vail Health staff who worked creatively, diligently, and tirelessly to make this hospital a reality.
It is truly miraculous how our community came together to build such a monumental gift for those suffering, providing support and hope for generations to come.
Amanda Precourt is a dedicated philanthropist and community leader with a deep commitment to behavioral health. She serves on the boards of the Vail Health Foundation, Vail Health’s Eagle Valley Behavioral Health, and The Depression Center at Anschutz Medical Center.
The Precourt Healing Center stands as a beacon of hope, embodying our vision of a community where mental health is prioritized and supported.”Amanda Precourt