Advance your psychiatric training through integrated, real-world clinical experience.
Develop the skills to provide high-quality mental health care across outpatient, crisis, and community-based settings.
Peak Vista Community Health Centers is no longer accepting applications for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Fellowship. Current Fellows will complete the program as planned.
This change applies only to the Fellowship program and does not reduce Peak Vista’s psychiatric services or our commitment to expanding access to psychiatric care.
Fellows gained experience providing psychaitric care alongside primary care and behaviral health teams in an integrated setting.
The program included outpatient psychiatry training and exposure to crisis, inpatient, community-based and developmental disabilities care.
Fellows developed clinical skills through faculty mentorship, supervised practice, didactic education and progressive responsibility.
The PMHNP Fellowship is led by experienced psychiatric clinicians dedicated to safety-net behavioral health and postgraduate education.
Patricia Bursnall is the Director of the PMHNP Fellowship. She brings a 16-year background in family practice, therapy, and psychiatric care to this role. She also credits her leadership background as a lead clinician and school administrator, as well as her lecture background at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and Anschutz campuses, the FNP Fellowship, and University of Haiti to assisting her in preparation for launching the PMHNP Fellowship.
"My approach is to educate the whole person. Each PMHNP Fellow brings their unique skills to this program, and I see my job as nurturing those strengths and building on areas for growth. As a provider, I treat the whole person. I need to be able to carefully listen, ask critical questions, listen some more, and work with the patient and the community toward their treatment goals."
Patricia has two passions: working with the underserved and bicycling. She loves mountain and gravel biking; has been a biking guide, coach for adolescents, and referee at the Colorado High School Mountain Biking League races; and even completed a world biking tour. Patricia has worked and lived with her husband and child in Colorado Springs for over 25 years.
Elena Ollis is a board certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). She obtained her BSN in nursing with a minor in psychology at Seton Hall University. She engaged in skilled nursing home visits prior to working as a psychiatric registered nurse in Princeton House, an inpatient psychiatric facility. Elena obtained her master’s in nursing with a PMHNP specialty from Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, and has been practicing as a PMHNP for the past 12 years in a variety of settings. Some of the those include nursing care facilities where she served as a PMHNP liaison/consultant, outpatient private practice, and a non-profit outpatient psychiatric clinic, where she engaged in an interdisciplinary NIH initiative focused on treating early onset psychosis in adolescents and young adults. Elena has been a member of the Peak Vista provider team since 2019. As Peak Vista’s first PMHNP, Elena lent her expertise to numerous primary care providers (and continues to do so today), helped open this organization’s first psychiatric health center, served as a clinical preceptor to multiple PMHNP students, provided didactic education to FNP Fellows, and lectured at UCCS. Most recently, Elena transitioned into her role as Attending Faculty for the PMHNP Fellowship.
Throughout her career, Elena’s passion and her professional drive have always been directed toward providing care for underserved populations within communities where the care is most needed and is least available. Elena’s Rogerian style empathetic listening approaches and her strong belief in evidence-based shared-decision making practice has enabled her to stay engaged and passionate about her craft.
When not engaged in new professional ventures or further educational pursuits, Elena enjoys playing violin, reading, hiking, biking, and spending time with her husband and her young daughter.
Becky Sours is a board certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). She brings 16 years of diverse nursing experience in a variety of settings, including rural and underserved communities in Colorado, a variety of teaching and instructing, and family practice. Becky worked as adjunct faculty for Adams State University and precepted undergraduate nursing students and others during her time as a bachelor’s prepared nurse. She obtained both her master’s degree and Post-Masters Certification through Regis University. As a family nurse practitioner, she precepted students entering the family practice profession. She joined Peak Vista as a Fellow in the first ever PMHNP Fellowship group and will continue as attending faculty.
“I have a passion for learning and consider myself a lifelong learner. Holistic care is at the core of my beliefs, and it's my goal to treat every individual with the respect and dignity they deserve. In caring for those with psychiatric illness, working as a family nurse practitioner has allowed me to understand the complexities of both medical and psychiatric conditions and how they both impact the human body – ensuring patients receive the best care possible.”
In her spare time, you can find Becky outdoors and in the mountains. She loves spending time with her family, which includes her three corgis and a large, mixed breed that adopted the family years ago. Becky is an avid sports fan and can be seen at Nuggets, Broncos, Avalanche, and Rockies games (and her children’s games and activities, of course)!
As a Colorado native, Linda always felt a strong calling to serve the underserved members of her community. She began her journey at Peak Vista in 2023 as a receptionist, where she experienced firsthand the realities of patient care and built meaningful relationships with those who rely on them most. That role deepened her compassion and strengthened her commitment to healthcare access for all.
“Today, as a Fellowship Coordinator, I’m honored to support our Fellows as they learn and grow. I’m passionate about helping them see the impact they can make and guiding them to approach their work with empathy, purpose, and a heart for service.”