Crisis Solutions facility opening delayed
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 3 months AGO
Crisis Solutions director Anselmo Quezada shows off the room set aside for patients undergoing an acute episode. The center's opening has been delayed.
Casey McCarthy, Columbia Basin Herald
Crisis Solutions director Anselmo Quezada outside the facility. The opening of Crisis Solutions has been delayed.
Crisis Solutions director Anselmo Quezada in one of the patient rooms. The facility's opening has been delayed.
Crisis Solutions director Anselmo Quezada outside the facility. The opening of Crisis Solutions has been delayed.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | December 29, 2020 1:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Opening of a Grant Integrated Services facility designed to treat people undergoing a mental health crisis has been delayed due to confusion over state requirements.
GIS Executive Director Dell Anderson said an opening date is uncertain, but when it opens, Crisis Solutions will provide inpatient treatment for up to 10 patients.
However, Anderson said state officials have not licensed the facility for inpatient treatment because the building does not meet current structural requirements.
The Crisis Solutions facility served as a treatment center for mental health patients on an outpatient basis before county officials decided to convert it. The facility’s license contained a waiver, Anderson said, which apparently was canceled when the building’s function was changed.
The problem was first discovered in October, but the building had been inspected in June, Anderson said, and no mention was made of the waiver at that time.
Anderson said he was hired in spring 2019 and no one — apparently including the contractors doing the work — knew about the waiver, or the effect converting the facility would have on its status. Administrators at GIS learned about it, and its cancellation, at one of the final inspections for the new license.
The building may require additional modification, Anderson said. But state officials have not explained or detailed what — or if — modifications will be required.
Anderson said the costs could range from $30,000 to $250,000, depending on the requirements. However, Grant Integrated Services officials are applying for a grant to help pay the costs.
Anderson said he has sought the assistance of state Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, and Linda Evans Parlette, director of the North Central Accountable Community of Health and a former state senator, for clarification.
State officials are reviewing a different license for the Crisis Solutions facility, one that would allow outpatient treatment of people who have been released from a hospital, but still need care. That has passed one review and been sent to another committee for further review, Anderson said.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
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