MEETING RECAP
The Future of Western State Hospital
By Joseph F. QuinnSunday, October 8, 2023
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The Future of Western State Hospital
Joe Quinn
President Mary Horn (PM) called the Rotary Family of Lakewood to order at 12:30 pm or so, with Chris Kimball called upon to do the invocation and Joe Quinn to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag.
PM then, for some unknown reason, told us about some of the past cars she has owned. The most notorious was a VW bug that had dings all over it, so each ding was covered with a sticker. Most unsightly. She squeezed it into a very small parking space only to return to find it missing. Seems some frat boys were so incensed by its ugliness that they lifted it up over the fence and put it on their lawn. Ah, those college days!
Wendy McGowan rose to tell us about a Rotary Moment. She held up a copy of the Rotarian magazine and said another club was using PM’s “We are Family” theme. All of the lawyers in the room pounded the table, threatening a trademark infringement suit. How dare they steal that brand? Wendy also gave us her Sunshine Report, saying the only matter to report was that Gordy Quick is back today with us. Gordy paid $20 for the privilege of being welcomed back. Wendy also mentioned that she and her husband Mike loved what they learned from Youth Exchange students and urged us to consider hosting as our present YE student needs a host for the second leg of her stay with us. ‘
PM thanked all the LR Rotarians who made this meeting possible, such as Chuck Hellar who collected $645 at the Paul Harris desk and the setup crew of Wynn Hoffman, Terry Roarke, Rick Selden, James Osundwa, Tom George and Rob Erb, their fearless leader.
PM made all the Puffins stand up and so Kris Kaufman used that opportunity to mention that Dan the Puffin made him go so some “dam event,” which I think was somewhere up in Canada. Kris seemed eager to pass on the Puffin, but PM educated him, by stating that he is stuck with it until we induct another new member. Kris immediately left the meeting to start recruiting! No, just kidding.
PM said Bob Zawilski is our photog today and Joe Quinn is scribe, while Treasurer John Lowney is tending the cookie jar. PM recognized a few Zoomer members and asked for any Visiting Rotarians. Dave Harkness of Tacoma South Rotary and Heidi Wachter (the Lakewood City Attorney) of the Clover Park Club were recognized as VRs.
There were no Guests of Rotarians today, but PM did recognize the usual dignitaries in attendance. Of special note, Past District Governor Gordy Quick was back with us and said he has started his chemotherapy.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: There were a ton of these, so listen up!
Wendy Wachter from Clover Park Rotary announced that on October 7th, this weekend CP Rotary and helpers are working at the Phillips Road Wildlife Area. There will be over 100 people working so if you see this before tomorrow (unlikely) you should show up.
October 10th is mental health today, so maybe that ties in with today’s program. See below.
Rotary on Tap will be at the Topside in Steilacoom on Thursday, October 12th so let Anne Enquist know you will be there. Profits all go to Pints for Polio.
For the whole month of October the battle continues between LR and the Steilacoom Kiwanis Club for the most purple recycling bins sold to aid the Mary Bridge Children’s Foundation.. PM says the two teams are currently tied at 17 each. For $200 a cart you can help PM win and help a good cause. Anyone in the Lemay Waste Management service area is eligible.
Dave Harkness rose with a $100 gift certificate to give us, but only because he wanted to push us to (again!) attend the Tacoma South Rotary’s Putt Putt Golf tourney to be held on October 20th. He said their Raise the Paddle this year will be for 100 Service Dogs for 100 Vets. Did you know that 20 veterans per day commit suicide in this country? Service dogs have been proven to help with mental health issues. Dave said they raised $77,000 last year on this fundraiser. Not bad for a Rotary club with only 15 members!! This is their 27th year for the event.
October 31 is the Trunk or Treat event so see Jan Gee if you want to volunteer.
November 5th is Woodstick and Chris Kimball could use some more volunteers (at least 5 or 6) for traffic control, parking and the like. The event will be at Clover Park High School, and is being done to benefit Coffee Oasis, which many Lakewood Rotarians support.
November 11th is the Nourish of Pierce County Fundraiser. See Bill Potter.
OUR PROGRAM:
City Manager John Caulfield introduced today’s speaker, Charles Southerland, of Western State Hospital. Based on his past job experience, we can see that Charles has vast experience in mental health and worked in corrections prior to that. He is a US Army veteran as well. John stressed that Western State is a good community partner with the City of Lakewood and is a large employer here as well.
Mr. Southerland explained that Western State Hospital has been divided into two distinct centers—one is the forensic side (criminal justice system) and the other is his bailiwick—the civil side of the hospital. But the reality he said, is that the vast majority of the patients being admitted now are on the forensic side. After a time, some of those patients are moved to the civil side.
Most of his talk was about the grand plans to build a new 350-bed forensic hospital, on the grounds, after the demolition of several existing Western State buildings. Demolition will proceed in 2024 and they estimate completion between 2027 and 2029.
In recent months, Mr. Southerland has said it has been his task to move out 180 patients from the building they call 21 – South, as demolition is slated to begin soon. He discussed in detail the problems of delay in getting patients into the hospital, as there have been news reports of (criminal defendant) patients waiting at least one year before being admitted for their evaluation of readiness to stand trial. (This is not a ‘criminal insanity’ determination, but merely asking if they are competent to stand trial and understand the nature of the charges against them.) He said the system is backed up for various reasons but it sounded as though one cause was the loss of those 180 beds on the civil side. Essentially, the hospital is full, with all beds spoken for.
The hospital is also subject to a federal court order in the Trueblood case, mandating that they reduce the delay down to 7 to 14 days! They have gotten it down to 6-8 weeks he said but are still getting fined by the court.
Due to recent legislation, some funds have been made available for the state to purchase added beds. For example, they gained 100-150 beds by buying the Olympic Heritage Behavior Health Center, which is in King County. When they add the Maple Lane Campus and the Brockman Campus they will have 64 additional beds.
Some tough but necessary questions were asked by LR Rotarians in the Q and A. It was noted that Lakewood (and specifically Oakbrook) has an inordinate number of adult family homes and someone asked if that was an overflow or release from Western State. At that point City Manager Caulfield rose to note that the permitting of adult family homes is a DSHS activity not a Western State jurisdictional issue. The City has raised this issue, John said, over and over again with State legislators and other state officials. Unquestionably, Lakewood has more than its fair share of adult family homes. Mr. Southerland did say that they try to relocate departing patients back to their home of origin, if possible, so they can be near their families or relatives.
Very informative program.
DRAWING: Jacob Cuthbertson drew the winning ticket but it was not for $655. The odds continue to improve.
Upcoming Events:
October 1-31 - Get your purple recycling bin from Lemay Waste Management and support Mary Bridge Children's Hospital.
October 12 - Rotary on Tap, Topside, 215 Wilkes Street, Steilacoom. RSVP to Steve and Anne Enquist. Join us at 5:30 for appetizers and drinks, and stay for dinner if you like. We'll pass the hat to raise donations and awareness for World Polio Day. Make a contribution today at this link.
October 17 - Board Meeting
October 20 - Harkness Furniture 27th Tacoma South Rotary Putt Putt Golf starting at 5:00 pm.
October 24 - World Polio Day.
October 31 - Trunk or Treat - See Jan Gee for details and to volunteer.
Joe Quinn
President Mary Horn (PM) called the Rotary Family of Lakewood to order at 12:30 pm or so, with Chris Kimball called upon to do the invocation and Joe Quinn to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag.
PM then, for some unknown reason, told us about some of the past cars she has owned. The most notorious was a VW bug that had dings all over it, so each ding was covered with a sticker. Most unsightly. She squeezed it into a very small parking space only to return to find it missing. Seems some frat boys were so incensed by its ugliness that they lifted it up over the fence and put it on their lawn. Ah, those college days!
Wendy McGowan rose to tell us about a Rotary Moment. She held up a copy of the Rotarian magazine and said another club was using PM’s “We are Family” theme. All of the lawyers in the room pounded the table, threatening a trademark infringement suit. How dare they steal that brand? Wendy also gave us her Sunshine Report, saying the only matter to report was that Gordy Quick is back today with us. Gordy paid $20 for the privilege of being welcomed back. Wendy also mentioned that she and her husband Mike loved what they learned from Youth Exchange students and urged us to consider hosting as our present YE student needs a host for the second leg of her stay with us. ‘
PM thanked all the LR Rotarians who made this meeting possible, such as Chuck Hellar who collected $645 at the Paul Harris desk and the setup crew of Wynn Hoffman, Terry Roarke, Rick Selden, James Osundwa, Tom George and Rob Erb, their fearless leader.
PM made all the Puffins stand up and so Kris Kaufman used that opportunity to mention that Dan the Puffin made him go so some “dam event,” which I think was somewhere up in Canada. Kris seemed eager to pass on the Puffin, but PM educated him, by stating that he is stuck with it until we induct another new member. Kris immediately left the meeting to start recruiting! No, just kidding.
PM said Bob Zawilski is our photog today and Joe Quinn is scribe, while Treasurer John Lowney is tending the cookie jar. PM recognized a few Zoomer members and asked for any Visiting Rotarians. Dave Harkness of Tacoma South Rotary and Heidi Wachter (the Lakewood City Attorney) of the Clover Park Club were recognized as VRs.
There were no Guests of Rotarians today, but PM did recognize the usual dignitaries in attendance. Of special note, Past District Governor Gordy Quick was back with us and said he has started his chemotherapy.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: There were a ton of these, so listen up!
Wendy Wachter from Clover Park Rotary announced that on October 7th, this weekend CP Rotary and helpers are working at the Phillips Road Wildlife Area. There will be over 100 people working so if you see this before tomorrow (unlikely) you should show up.
October 10th is mental health today, so maybe that ties in with today’s program. See below.
Rotary on Tap will be at the Topside in Steilacoom on Thursday, October 12th so let Anne Enquist know you will be there. Profits all go to Pints for Polio.
For the whole month of October the battle continues between LR and the Steilacoom Kiwanis Club for the most purple recycling bins sold to aid the Mary Bridge Children’s Foundation.. PM says the two teams are currently tied at 17 each. For $200 a cart you can help PM win and help a good cause. Anyone in the Lemay Waste Management service area is eligible.
Dave Harkness rose with a $100 gift certificate to give us, but only because he wanted to push us to (again!) attend the Tacoma South Rotary’s Putt Putt Golf tourney to be held on October 20th. He said their Raise the Paddle this year will be for 100 Service Dogs for 100 Vets. Did you know that 20 veterans per day commit suicide in this country? Service dogs have been proven to help with mental health issues. Dave said they raised $77,000 last year on this fundraiser. Not bad for a Rotary club with only 15 members!! This is their 27th year for the event.
October 31 is the Trunk or Treat event so see Jan Gee if you want to volunteer.
November 5th is Woodstick and Chris Kimball could use some more volunteers (at least 5 or 6) for traffic control, parking and the like. The event will be at Clover Park High School, and is being done to benefit Coffee Oasis, which many Lakewood Rotarians support.
November 11th is the Nourish of Pierce County Fundraiser. See Bill Potter.
OUR PROGRAM:
City Manager John Caulfield introduced today’s speaker, Charles Southerland, of Western State Hospital. Based on his past job experience, we can see that Charles has vast experience in mental health and worked in corrections prior to that. He is a US Army veteran as well. John stressed that Western State is a good community partner with the City of Lakewood and is a large employer here as well.
Mr. Southerland explained that Western State Hospital has been divided into two distinct centers—one is the forensic side (criminal justice system) and the other is his bailiwick—the civil side of the hospital. But the reality he said, is that the vast majority of the patients being admitted now are on the forensic side. After a time, some of those patients are moved to the civil side.
Most of his talk was about the grand plans to build a new 350-bed forensic hospital, on the grounds, after the demolition of several existing Western State buildings. Demolition will proceed in 2024 and they estimate completion between 2027 and 2029.
In recent months, Mr. Southerland has said it has been his task to move out 180 patients from the building they call 21 – South, as demolition is slated to begin soon. He discussed in detail the problems of delay in getting patients into the hospital, as there have been news reports of (criminal defendant) patients waiting at least one year before being admitted for their evaluation of readiness to stand trial. (This is not a ‘criminal insanity’ determination, but merely asking if they are competent to stand trial and understand the nature of the charges against them.) He said the system is backed up for various reasons but it sounded as though one cause was the loss of those 180 beds on the civil side. Essentially, the hospital is full, with all beds spoken for.
The hospital is also subject to a federal court order in the Trueblood case, mandating that they reduce the delay down to 7 to 14 days! They have gotten it down to 6-8 weeks he said but are still getting fined by the court.
Due to recent legislation, some funds have been made available for the state to purchase added beds. For example, they gained 100-150 beds by buying the Olympic Heritage Behavior Health Center, which is in King County. When they add the Maple Lane Campus and the Brockman Campus they will have 64 additional beds.
Some tough but necessary questions were asked by LR Rotarians in the Q and A. It was noted that Lakewood (and specifically Oakbrook) has an inordinate number of adult family homes and someone asked if that was an overflow or release from Western State. At that point City Manager Caulfield rose to note that the permitting of adult family homes is a DSHS activity not a Western State jurisdictional issue. The City has raised this issue, John said, over and over again with State legislators and other state officials. Unquestionably, Lakewood has more than its fair share of adult family homes. Mr. Southerland did say that they try to relocate departing patients back to their home of origin, if possible, so they can be near their families or relatives.
Very informative program.
DRAWING: Jacob Cuthbertson drew the winning ticket but it was not for $655. The odds continue to improve.
Upcoming Events:
October 1-31 - Get your purple recycling bin from Lemay Waste Management and support Mary Bridge Children's Hospital.
October 12 - Rotary on Tap, Topside, 215 Wilkes Street, Steilacoom. RSVP to Steve and Anne Enquist. Join us at 5:30 for appetizers and drinks, and stay for dinner if you like. We'll pass the hat to raise donations and awareness for World Polio Day. Make a contribution today at this link.
October 17 - Board Meeting
October 20 - Harkness Furniture 27th Tacoma South Rotary Putt Putt Golf starting at 5:00 pm.
October 24 - World Polio Day.
October 31 - Trunk or Treat - See Jan Gee for details and to volunteer.
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