WSNA follow-up statement on closure of Sacred Heart adolescent psychiatry unit

Providence wants the community to believe that closure of their adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit will not negatively impact the community and patients they once served. This is simply not true.

While we acknowledge that inpatient mental-health services are available to adolescents in Spokane, closing the Providence Sacred Heart unit reduces the availability of those services. That unit also provided care for adolescents who not only had mental health crises but also had cooccurring medical conditions such as insulin-dependent diabetes, as well as patients with autism or developmental delays, that other facilities will not accept.

As has been reported in the media, in December 2022 Sacred Heart laid off eight physicians caring for psychiatric patients to save money and “restructure” their delivery of behavioral health. The promise at the time was that they would be adding back positions. That is when the number of patients served in the unit went down. Providers say ongoing uncertainty about provider contracts didn’t help with recruitment.

While the nonprofit hospital says it can’t afford to keep the adolescent psychiatric unit open, Providence has a 20% stake in Inland Behavioral Health, run by the for-profit chain Universal Health Services.

Additionally, Inland Northwest Behavioral Health states on their website that they accept patients aged 13-17, which does not include the 12-year-olds Providence says the facility is now treating.

Our primary concern is for the adolescent and families who need the kind of care the Sacred Heart adolescent psychiatry unit provided.