Psychiatric hospital proposal for Salmon Creek submitted

While the facility would be licensed as a psychiatric hospital, 24 of the 72 beds would be located in a separate chemical dependency unit, according to the application. Plans call for the hospital to be operational by January 2018.

Springstone officials did not respond to requests for comment on the project.

Vanessa Gaston, Clark County Community Services director, spoke with Springstone officials earlier in their planning process. At the time, the organization wasn’t proposing any substance abuse beds, strictly mental health services, Gaston said.

Gaston told the company that Clark County did not need another Western State Hospital, the state psychiatric hospital in Lakewood where people can be housed long-term.

Instead, Gaston said, Clark County needs crisis-stabilization beds.

“We need a facility where people can stay three to 14 days — less than 30 days — where they can stabilize until they can get into community-based services,” she said. “That’s a level of care missing across the state, and it’s definitely not in Clark County.”

If that’s the type of care Springstone is proposing, the beds are “absolutely needed,” Gaston said. Clark County also has a need for those services for youth, she said.

Expanding company

Springstone was founded in 2010 and currently operates 10 private behavioral health hospitals in four states: Ohio, Indiana, Texas and Kansas. The company has three additional hospitals under construction in Ohio, Arizona and Colorado, according to its website.

The proposed Salmon Creek hospital would be built on two parcels totalling about 12.5 acres. The 53,300-square-foot, single-story building would cover less than 6 acres, leaving the rest of the property undeveloped, according to the project application filed with Clark County Community Development.

The triangular site, at 2711 N.E. 129th St., is bordered by Waters Edge condominiums to the north, Salmon Creek to the east and I-205 to the south. The site is near where Wal-Mart had proposed to build a store a few years ago.

The traffic impact fees for the $26.8 million project would be waived, per the county’s current policy.

The public comment period for the project’s county application closes Monday. The county could issue a preliminary decision on the project as early as March 25.

Before building a hospital in Washington, organizations are required to go through the Washington State Department of Health’s certificate of need process. Springstone submitted its certificate of need application Dec. 29, 2014.

The health department sent Springstone a letter committing to issue a certificate of need for the project on Oct. 6. The certificate of need will not be officially issued until Springstone acquires a conditional use permit from Clark County.

A second company also submitted a certificate of need application to build a psychiatric hospital in Clark County. Signature Healthcare Services LLC submitted its application Nov. 10, 2014, to build a 100-bed hospital to provide adolescent and adult services in Vancouver.

The health department reviewed both applications but ultimately approved Springstone’s application and denied the application submitted by Signature.

Growing need

Springstone’s certificate of need application outlines the need for additional adult mental health and substance abuse services in Clark County and the hospital’s plans to meet those needs.

Springstone compiled hospital discharge data of Clark County residents from 2013. The data showed 740 Clark County residents received inpatient psychiatric discharges. Of those, 70 percent received services at a Washington hospital — nearly all in Clark or Cowlitz counties. The rest received services at an Oregon hospital.

Currently, PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center has 12 psychiatric beds and Telecare, an Alameda, Calif.-based company, operates a 12-bed inpatient unit at the Center for Community Health. Those are the only beds in the county.

In its application, Springstone projected that Clark County would need an additional 85 adult psychiatric beds by 2018. By 2025, the company anticipates that need will be up to 95 beds.

During the first year of operation, Springstone projects the 72-bed facility would be 43 percent occupied. The company expects that occupancy rate to climb to 83 percent by the third year.

Based on those rates, Springstone is projecting a loss of about $2 million the first year, with expenses topping $12.2 million. By the third year, the company expects a $2.6 million profit, according to the application.

Springstone anticipates a combination of insurance payers, including Medicare (27 percent of total revenue) and Medicaid (22 percent of total revenue), according to the application.

The certificate of need requires the hospital to provide charity care no less than the average amount of charity care provided by hospitals in this region. Currently, that’s 3.41 percent of gross revenue and 8.47 percent of adjusted revenue.

In its first year, Springstone anticipates employing 98 people, the majority of whom would be registered nurses and mental health technicians. The hospital would increase staffing as occupancy increases. By the third year, the hospital expects to have a staff of 149 people, according to the application.