The new 24-bed inpatient behavioral health unit features rocking chairs, nature photos, and difficult to move furniture meant to avoid self-harm. It opened July 1. (Providence Regional Medical Center Everett)

The new 24-bed inpatient behavioral health unit features rocking chairs, nature photos, and difficult to move furniture meant to avoid self-harm. It opened July 1. (Providence Regional Medical Center Everett)

Much-needed Everett mental health unit opens with 24 beds

Providence’s in-patient facility aims to address a shortage of behavioral health treatment in the region.

EVERETT — Nature photos. A view of the water. Foam doors. Comfortable rocking chairs.

Those are a few of the features at Providence Regional Medical Center’s new 24-bed in-patient behavioral health unit that opened Thursday in Everett. It will serve a region facing a growing mental health crisis.

The 24-hour facility, on the fourth floor of Providence’s Colby campus, opens at a time when providers are seeing increased need as people deal with the anxiety of the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s reopening, as well as trends that were already in motion which have overwhelmed the state’s psychiatric bed capacity and strained the behavioral health workforce.

“It’s beyond a breaking point,” said state Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett. “We have not had adequate capacity, either outpatient or inpatient, for a long, long time. Maybe you could say ever.”

The unit was remodeled from a strictly medical facility with over $8.5 million in state appropriations and grants. Robinson toured the space before it opened. She called it a “model for what we can do.”

The state-of-the-art status is due to safety features meant to protect patients while they stay there: ligature-resistant toilet paper dispensers, blinds behind glass and furniture that’s weighted down.

Other elements include creative approaches to care, like art therapy and spiritual care. There’s also dedicated space for court hearings within the unit for patients, where they can attend proceedings virtually with their lawyer.

The new 24-bed inpatient behavioral health unit features rocking chairs, nature photos, and difficult to move furniture meant to avoid self-harm. It opened July 1. (Providence Regional Medical Center Everett)

The new 24-bed inpatient behavioral health unit features rocking chairs, nature photos, and difficult to move furniture meant to avoid self-harm. It opened July 1. (Providence Regional Medical Center Everett)

The new space will largely be populated by patients already at Providence, where the emergency department sees about 1,200 patients with behavioral health needs each month, said Laura Knapp, the hospital’s director of behavioral health.

“There’s not even nearly enough beds, and so what that means is that they have to be admitted to our hospital in a medical bed, even though it is due to a behavioral health need,” said Knapp, who is a social worker.

For those patients who do have accompanying medical needs, the new unit can still provide that care.

Katie Gilligan, a psychiatrist and the behavioral health medical director, said such patients could be on the medical side of the hospital for “days to weeks to months without getting appropriate psychiatric care,” while they wait for a bed to open up in an in-patient facility elsewhere.

Providence also opened a behavioral health urgent care center in November 2019. Knapp said it now serves about 200 patients per month, but even that facility is only open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Time in the unit is expected to vary widely for each person. One quarter of the beds are set aside for longer stays, such as those under civil commitment for 90 to 180 days. The more typical stay is one to two weeks.

The unit admitted seven patients Thursday, all of whom had been hospitalized, awaiting psychiatric help. Knapp expects the 24 beds to fill quickly, as the hospital already has enough patients being treated in medical units who would be better served in the new space.

“My hope is that other organizations will continue to build out what we need in our community,” Knapp said. “We really do need a robust response to mental health. That’s the message, right? Traditionally, these services have been underfunded and they’re critical. Behavioral health needs can happen to absolutely anybody.”

Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.

Talk to us

More in Local News

Mt. Baker visible from the summit of Mt. Dickerman on a late summer day in 2017. (Caleb Hutton / The Herald)
Hornets pester hikers on popular Mountain Loop trails

“You cannot out run the stings,” one hiker wrote in a trip report. The Forest Service has posted alerts at two trailheads.

A view of a 6 parcel, 4.4 acre piece of land in Edmonds, south of Edmonds-Woodway High School on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Housing authority seeks more property in Edmonds

The Housing Authority of Snohomish County doesn’t have specific plans for land near 80th Avenue West, if its offer is accepted.

Nursing Administration Supervisor Susan Williams points at a list of current COVID patients at Providence Regional Medical Center on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Dozens of Providence patients in medical limbo for months, even years

About 100 people are stuck in Everett hospital beds without an urgent medical reason. New laws aim for a solution.

Emergency responders surround an ultralight airplane that crashed Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, at the Arlington Municipal Airport in Arlington, Washington, resulting in the pilot's death. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Pilot dead in ultralight plane crash at Arlington Municipal Airport

There were no other injuries or fatalities reported, a city spokesperson said.

Cash is used for a purchase at Molly Moon's Ice Cream in Edmonds, Washington on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
County Council delays vote on requiring businesses to take cash

Concerns over information and enforcement postponed the council’s scheduled vote on the ordinance Wednesday in Snohomish County.

A girl walks her dog along a path lined with dandelions at Willis D. Tucker Community Park on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Spraying in Willis Tucker Park resurfaces debate over herbicides

Park staff treated about 11,000 square feet with glyphosate and 2,4-D. When applied correctly, staff said they aren’t harmful.

One of Snohomish County PUD’s new smart readers is installed at a single family home Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, in Mill Creek, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
PUD program seeks to make energy grid smarter for 380K customers

The public utility’s ConnectUp program will update 380,000 electric meters and 23,000 water meters in the next few years.

An example of the Malicious Women Co. products (left) vs. the Malicious Mermaid's products (right). (U.S. District Court in Florida)
Judge: Cheeky candle copycat must pay Snohomish company over $800K

The owner of the Malicious Women Co. doesn’t expect to receive any money from the Malicious Mermaid, a Florida-based copycat.

A grave marker for Blaze the horse. (Photo provided)
After Darrington woman’s horse died, she didn’t know what to do

Sidney Montooth boarded her horse Blaze. When he died, she was “a wreck” — and at a loss as to what to do with his remains.

Most Read