Western State Fails Survey, Will Lose $53 Million In Funds

LAKEWOOD, WA - Western State Hospital has failed an assessment by federal health officials, which means the state's largest psychiatric hospital will lose $53 million in funds - about 20 percent of the hospital's overall funding.

Federal inspectors said Western State made significant progress under an improvement plan, but not enough to qualify for Medicare funds.

The state Department of Social and Health Services described the federal assessment this way:

Last month, 22 surveyors representing CMS arrived at the hospital to inspect wards, treatment plans and to interview staff to ensure that 26 conditions of participation (COP) were being met. This is a result of a Systems Improvement Agreement (SIA) between DSHS and the federal government that began in June 2016.

In this recent and final survey, although CMS noted that vast improvements had been made since June 2016, the hospital was still falling short on the requirements to retain $53 million in federal funding.

Gov. Jay Inslee has proposed a plan to transfer a large share of Western State patients into community care facilities. Under that model, low-risk patients will benefit form getting care in facilities close to home, and Western State will be able to focus resources on higher-risk patients.

“Other states have struggled similarly with maintaining large mental hospitals because it’s a 100-year-old model of care that doesn’t reflect our modern-day standards. I’ll be working closely with legislators and community partners in the coming months to make sure we’re doing everything necessary to get this job done," Inslee said in a press release Monday.

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