Newspaper reports mental health cuts "could clog mental health crisis centers, emergency rooms and jails"

In today's editions of the Tacoma News Tribune and The Olympian, the story: Cuts muddle mental care releases

Here are excerpts:

DSHS acknowledges in its description of reductions that those cut off from treatment likely will end up being paid for by the government in other ways. They could clog mental health crisis centers, emergency rooms and jails.….

But it’s unclear whether the Western State patients under consideration would even be eligible for nursing homes, said Rich Miller, president of the Washington Health Care Association – an advocacy group for nursing and assisted-living homes.

And nursing home owners might be reluctant to mix them with their other residents and train all their employees how to deal with a very different population that would mix with the current residents.
“That’s why places like Western State were created,” Miller said, “because you’re providing a very specialized level of care.”

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