LAKEWOOD — Western State Hospital, the state’s largest psychiatric facility, is set to open a pair of newly renovated psychiatric wards to try and reduce by half the violence coming from a handful of patients deemed most dangerous.
“It’s usually the top five to 10 patients that are doing a huge percentage of the violence,” said Jenise Gogan, a director in the Department of Social and Health Services, which oversees the hospital.
The Seattle Times reported that a 10-patient ward — set to open Monday — will combined increased staffing, more therapy for patients and tighter security to help stabilize and treat those who are hardest to handle. Known as the Specialized Treatment, Assessment and Recovery ward, it will include video surveillance and higher staffing levels to help provide greater safety.
The idea is for patients to get more attention and intense treatment than they receive on the regular wards, with the goal of improving their condition within 90 days. Then, those patients could be moved to the other new ward, which would house 20 patients to keep them stabilized at their improved level, according to Gogan. That ward is slated to open in May.
A psychiatrist and pharmacist will work closely with patients on those wards to make sure they’re getting the right treatment, she said.
The project is being paid for with $22 million that’s included in the current, two-year state-operating budget, according to Gogan. Western State created dozens of new positions to operate the wards, including security personnel, institutional counselors, nursing staff, mental-health technicians and others.
The wards are intended for patients who have been civilly committed to the hospital by a judge, and for those who come to Western State after being charged with crimes, but are not competent to stand trial. Some are ultimately transferred to the hospital’s less-secure civil side.
For 2019 through November, there were 470 assault-related injuries reported on patients at Western State, according to DSHS. During that time, hospital officials reported 463 assault-related injuries to staffers.
Lawmakers and Gov. Jay Inslee are hoping to eventually move all of Western State’s civilly committed patients to new community facilities, many of which have yet to be built.
The hospital has endured a host of struggles in recent years. Federal regulators decertified the hospital in 2018 over a variety of safety and other issues. That move cost Washington $53 million in annual federal funding.
