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| This "Silver Tower" and second Emergency Department was funded by the taxpayers of EvergreenHealth Public Hospital No.2 in Redmond, Kirkland, Sammamish,Woodinville, Kenmore, Bothell, Mill Creek, Duval, Carnation, Shoreline and Sammamish County. |
EvergreenHealth serves the community well.
A gross exception is their failure to provide on-site mental health treatment.
Click title:
Hello CEO Tomlin and Commissioners -
ReplyDeletePlease consider the following:
"King County has lost nearly a third of its residential mental health beds since 2018, and residents wait an average of 44 days for such treatment, county and city officials announced Thursday." -- Seattle Times, 8/11/2022
"The county’s ability to expand the number of mental health beds is also constricted by a federal rule that prevents large inpatient psychiatric facilities — those with more than 16 beds — from receiving federal Medicaid dollars." -- Seattle Times, 8/11/2022
[Don't let this get you down. Sixteen beds should be sufficient and doable with your resources and community needs. Yes, Medicaid dollars give a poor return but please think outside the box.]
"The county has no walk-in urgent care center for people experiencing a mental health crisis, youths and adults wait hours or days in emergency departments before landing an inpatient bed." Seattle Times, 8/11/2022 [You almost got there, but then the pandemic.]
"But officials suggested that an upfront investment in the mental health and substance use treatment systems could lead to long-term cost savings in other corners of the city and county budgets, such as jails." Seattle Times, 8/11/2022. [Please ask Dow Constantine for an upfront investment in EvergreenHealth.]
Thank you for your consideration,
Sincerely,
--
Bob Yoder
425-802-2523
redmondblog.org
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/mental-health/king-county-seattle-officials-pledge-to-create-plan-boosting-mental-health-facilities-and-workforce/
When and if I get a response from the hospital, I'll let you know.