A photo from that day in Lakewood in May 2018 shows a united front. Hospital officials shoulder to shoulder with state lawmakers, and at the center, Gov. Jay Inslee. These officials were ready to “transform the state’s mental health system” after years of underfunding, lawsuits and federal warnings that threatened to close down Washington state’s largest psychiatric hospital — nearly 800 beds that served some of the most vulnerable residents.
“This is a heavy lift,” Inslee said.
He presented a plan that by 2023 would focus Western State on only serving patients who had been accused of crimes and were coming from jails. State agencies would build new, smaller centers across the state to serve people who weren’t facing charges but were sent for psychiatric commitment by the civil courts.
