Over the last several years, WSHA has lobbied the state legislature to make significant investments in mental health. This work has resulted in tens of millions of dollars in capital funding for mental health beds. Using this funding, a number of new mental health beds have already opened, and many more are in development.
The Washington State Department of Commerce just released the application for a second pool of money for capital grants to create mental health capacity. Applications are due July 28. Click here to download the application.
This pot of money, $6.5 million, is aimed at creating new inpatient psychiatric hospital beds, crisis stabilization services, triage services, or freestanding evaluation and treatment centers. We encourage hospitals to apply for these funds to create more psychiatric capacity in their communities. The contact at the Department of Commerce is Bill Cole, (360) 725-3005 or bill.cole@commerce.wa.gov. (Cassie Sauer)
