Washington state invests $30 million to bolster mental health services and reduce wait times

WASHINGTON — Washington state is investing nearly $30 million to address a longtime problem with increasing demand for state mental health services.

It’s an issue the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) has been sued over in the past, with hundreds of people forced to wait several months to be admitted for state mental health services.

The new 136-bed facility in Tukwila, Olympic Heritage Behavioral Health, is aimed at adding to the state’s ability to admit new patients who have been civilly committed. Around 200 staff members have also been hired for the facility. DSHS purchased the existing hospital facility in August and have since made upgrades to accommodate patient needs.

DSHS officials said this facility will help free up bed space at state hospitals like Western State Hospital so they can more quickly provide competency restoration services to people facing criminal charges who have been ordered by a judge to get mental health evaluations and cannot proceed through the justice system without these services.

RELATED: Accused violent offender still awaiting competency restoration several months later

“[It] helps alleviate those in-patient beds at Western State Hospital and that huge huge demand for those beds because we’re able to transfer those from Western State Hospital to this facility,” Dr. Thomas Kinlen, the director of the DSHS Office of Forensic Mental Health Services, said. “A lot of it is bringing on additional beds, these beds, those in the community, beds at Western State Hospital - all of those have allowed us to decrease the wait times and wait lists.”

It’s something DSHS has struggled with for years, with people in the past waiting up to a year to be admitted.

Last year, a judge ordered DSHS to pay murder suspect Alexander Jay $250 each day he waited to be admitted for competency restoration services to be able to stand trial, wracking up thousands of dollars on the state’s dime while he waited for a bed at Western State Hospital.

Counties across the state have also accused DSHS in previous lawsuits of releasing patients who are not ready to be released to free up additional bed space.

“Washington state needs to have the most rapid diligent way to build capacity as soon as possible, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. “We stood up this hospital in 60 days; that’s almost unprecedented.”

RELATED: Washington counties sue DSHS over alleged failure to provide behavioral health services

DSHS officials said just this year, they’ve been able to take the average wait for state mental health services from 12 months down to 35 days or less, but the goal is to continue adding bed capacity and get people admitted within seven days. At the same time, DSHS officials say demand for state mental health services has increased significantly in recent years, from getting about 3,000 referrals for competency restoration in 2013 to more than 8,000 referrals last year.

“We’re trying to do that and bring as much speed as humanly possible,” Gov. Inslee said. “We’ve made enormous investments, almost $2 billion since 2015, we’ve added 200 beds, and we have another 500 beds coming online or that are in the process of construction.”

“We’re making massive increases in mental health as fast as we can,” Inslee added. “That’s what we should be doing, and it is what we’re doing.”

DSHS officials said they will continue to work to add bed capacity to meet their goals of getting patients admitted. Adding a new state hospital is also expected to come online sometime in 2027-2028.

RELATED: Man charged for violent Seattle attacks admitted to Western State Hospital

“We’re looking at 30 beds at the Maple Lane Campus for 30 not guilty by reason of insanity patients from Western down to that facility, and we’re hoping to do that in the next six to eight weeks,” Dr. Kinlen said. “That obviously creates 30 additional beds, and we’re looking at additional beds at the Maple Lane campus, and we also have a campus down in Vancouver, which will be 48 civil beds.”

Olympic Heritage Behavioral Health is still undergoing construction upgrades, like adding additional treatment wards, but DSHS has already started moving patients over to the new facility. Ongoing construction is expected to be fully completed by next year.