EVERETT, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--This month, Compass Health marks two significant milestones in its Broadway Campus Redevelopment project, a state-of-the-art regional center to support behavioral health needs across Northwest Washington. Its phase one permanent supportive housing facility officially opened on Friday, May 21, following the May 18 approval of $14 million in state capital funding to support its phase two facility for intensive behavioral health services.
“Today, we’re two transformative steps closer to our goal of enabling individuals to receive innovative, evidence-based care in their communities, helping to prevent escalation to inpatient care and easing the burden on local hospitals, law enforcement and homeless services,” said Tom Sebastian, Compass Health president and CEO. “We’re honored that our state legislators, Governor Inslee, and our community as a whole have rallied behind us to support this shared vision.”
With the phase one grand opening coming on the heels of the phase two funding, the project is delivering solutions for some of the region’s most pressing challenges by expanding housing and access to intensive services for community members with behavioral health needs.
During the phase one virtual grand opening ceremony, Compass Health invited community members to see the inside of the phase one building, including its 82 units of supportive housing for homeless and low-income residents who have access to behavioral health services. As part of the ceremony, Sebastian narrated a building walkthrough, accompanied by remarks from U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen, Washington State Senator June Robinson, Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Executive Director of the Washington State House Finance Commission Steve Walker, and Compass Health Board Chair Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory. The video walkthrough and other project details are available for viewing on the Broadway Redevelopment page of Compass Health’s website.
The facility’s residents will include eligible veterans who are experiencing homelessness, under the Housing Authority of Snohomish County’s VASH (Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing) Voucher program; community members experiencing homelessness referred by Investing in Futures, Snohomish County’s Coordinated Entry process; and individuals transitioning back into the community from Western State Hospital and other treatment settings. About one-third of the project’s 10,000-square-foot ground floor is dedicated to services including mental health treatment, peer support, homeless outreach and housing stabilization.
“Permanent supportive housing is a known and proven solution for people experiencing chronic behavioral health issues in their lives,” said Washington State Senator June Robinson, who is also a member of Compass Health’s Campaign Executive Committee. “These are our friends and neighbors who want to live in community, and this facility will support that by providing a permanent roof over their heads as well as support services so that folks can recover and feel safe and stable.”
Phase one is just the first step of the three-phase project. The recently approved $14 million in the state’s capital budget supports the design and construction of phase two: an advanced facility for intensive behavioral health services to replace Compass Health’s 70-year-old Bailey Center building on Broadway Avenue.
The 82,000-square-foot building will accommodate one 16-bed evaluation and treatment unit and one 16-bed crisis stabilization unit, and will house a range of crisis, triage and high-frequency intensive services. These programs include The Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT), which is a wraparound, evidence-based intensive outpatient treatment program designed to assist adults with severe and persistent behavioral health disorders; and Adult Intensive Outpatient Services Program (IOP), which serves individuals with severe and persistent behavioral health disorders whose needs are better met with more frequent contact and outreach. The facility will also add the Expanded Community Support (ECS) program, which provides enhanced services to support adults and older adults who require placement in adult family homes or skilled nursing facilities, but who have difficulty maintaining their placement due to significant mental health needs.
The 16-bed inpatient evaluation and treatment unit will allow Compass Health to serve an additional 250 clients annually in the most acute setting outside of a psychiatric hospital. This will amount to more than 5,000 days of total care where clients can remain in their community—an approach that facilitates family visits, seamless care coordination efficient transition to after-care. In total, the facility is estimated to provide 30,587 points of service to approximately 1,500 adults each year.
As part of the community safety net, these services ultimately alleviate the pressure on other law enforcement and community responders, helping clients avoid jail and hospital emergency department. The state-of-the-art facility will also impact neighbors and local businesses as part of the efforts to transform the aesthetic of Everett’s core.
“With phase two, we are creating a purpose-built facility that reflects the exceptional quality, sophistication and respectfulness of our intensive behavioral health services – a dynamic that will benefit every single member of our community,” said Tom Kozaczynski, Compass Health’s chief development and communications officer. “Individuals from all backgrounds across the region will access our services as a turning point to recovery, and this has a range of benefits including enabling hospitals and first responders to focus on their core roles rather than managing complex behavioral health needs. Ultimately, phase two – like the entire campus – will serve as a direct resource for our community members and partners across Northwest Washington.”
Additionally, phase two represents a key part of the region’s economic stimulus, creating an estimated 150 to 200 jobs during design and construction and employing 130 behavioral health and medical professionals long-term.
Phase three of the campus redevelopment, still in the early design stages, is projected to focus on integrating behavioral health services with a primary healthcare clinic and pharmacy, in addition to supporting other services.
“Compass Health has long served as one of the region’s foremost community behavioral health providers, and this project is just another example of their innovative approach to ensuring a full continuum of care,” said Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory, Compass Health board chair and recently retired Sno-Isle Libraries executive director. “Celebrating the grand opening of the permanent supportive housing facility, coupled with the support from the state, is further testament to the organization’s commitment to leading by example and transforming care region-wide.”
Compass Health hopes to continue its legacy of advocacy throughout the three stages of the project.
“We’re excited to share these significant milestones with our community, and the feedback from our state leaders confirms that we are on the right path to make a positive impact on the lives of the people we serve,” said Sebastian. “What started as a plan for transforming care in the region has manifested in a new building to address housing needs and substantial next steps for executing the other project phases – the best part is that we’re just getting started.”
For project updates, visit the Compass Health Broadway Campus Redevelopment here: www.compasshealth.org/broadwayredevelopment.
About Compass Health
Compass Health is Northwest Washington’s behavioral healthcare leader. A community-based healthcare agency, Compass Health integrates behavioral health and medical care services to form a key section of the community safety net and serve clients and others in need of care and support. From comprehensive mental health treatment to crisis prevention and intervention, supportive housing, children’s services, community education and much more, the non-profit organization serves people of all ages throughout Snohomish, Skagit, Island, San Juan, and Whatcom counties.
