Citing patient safety concerns, employees at troubled Tacoma psychiatric hospital unionize
Since it opened in May 2019, Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital has experienced no shortage of challenges.
Multiple state investigations have revealed an array of health, safety and staffing concerns at the facility, while leadership at the hospital has often been in tumult, most recently with the departure of former CEO Matt Crockett earlier this year.
On Thursday, employees at Wellfound took a step that some hope will improve working conditions and patient care, voting to unionize and join SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.
According to a press release from SEIU, the new bargaining unit includes nurses, mental health technicians, unit secretaries and housekeeping staff . In all, 127 employees will be represented, according to an SEIU spokesperson who described the 72 to 4 vote as a “landslide.”
At a hospital that was supposed to help solve Pierce County’s staggering behavioral health crisis — but has so far failed to deliver on its promise and the promises of the elected leaders who championed it — the unionization vote marks the beginning of a new chapter, according to employees who spoke to The News Tribune.
Laurel Titland, 63, is a charge nurse who has worked at Wellfound since shortly after its ribbon cutting. Titland voted in favor of unionization, she said, in large part because of staffing concerns — and what she described as a shortage of providers.
“To do my job well, I need time with patients. And when I get that time, I can see that my patients improve and make great strides in their mental health,” Titland said. “When I have to put out fires or run to the next patient because my load is overwhelming, care and safety are compromised, and I’m looking forward to having that change.”
Wellfound spokesperson Marce Edwards Olson acknowledged the successful unionization vote in a statement provided to The News Tribune.
“This week, a group of employees at Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital voted to join SEIU. We respect the majority decision of our employees and look forward to the collective bargaining process,” the statement read in part.
“We value all our employees and appreciate the team members who choose to join us in taking care of the communities we serve. The well-being of our Wellfound team members is always a top priority, and we work hard to listen to and collaborate with them.”
Launched as a joint venture between health care giants MultiCare and CHI Franciscan, the $41 million Wellfound benefited from millions of dollars in public funding but has yet to open to capacity. There are 120 beds at the facility, but according to Edwards Olson, only half of them are currently operational. That’s an increase from earlier this year, when only 48 beds were available to patients.
In July, Angie Naylor, the chief nurse executive and chief operating officer at MultiCare Behavioral Health Network, replaced Crockett at Wellfound — taking the reins at a facility marred by high-profile failures.
Not long after it opened, Kevan Carter Jr., who was denied admission to Wellfound twice in a 24-hour period, stepped in front of a train near his childhood home of Titlow Beach, taking his own life. Shortly after The News Tribune reported on Carter’s death, the hospital temporarily halted admissions.
The hospital also has faced multiple Department of Health investigations since it opened — including one launched in response to Carter’s death. A 2019 state investigation identified roughly 70 pages of deficiencies at the facility, many of them potentially serious.
According to SEIU’s release, the new union’s top priorities will be “improving safe staffing standards that will help reduce burnout and ensure safe, manageable workplaces.”
Titland said Thursday’s vote was driven by employees who want the hospital to provide the care its patients deserve. She attributed some of the hospital’s struggles to a “lack of training, lack of staffing and staff burnout.”
“During my time in the hospital, it seems like nurses and mental health techs are being challenged every day with safety and the risk of being hurt — and also other patients being hurt. It has just been really challenging that way,” Titland said.
Material from The News Tribune’s archives was included in this story.
