Second Tacoma behavioral health hospital set to clear final land-use permit hurdle
After a three-month delay, Tacoma’s City Council is set to clear the way for construction of a second psychiatric hospital in the city.
The first reading took place in September on an ordinance approving a rezone to allow Tacoma Behavioral Healthcare Hospital to be developed. The final reading is up for approval Tuesday, Dec. 17.
In August, hearing examiner Jeff Capell recommended approval of the rezone and offered conditional approval of the project’s permits.
The city’s legal department blamed “process confusion” and fully booked council agendas for the delay in the second reading.
In a statement in response to questions about the delay, the department told The News Tribune via email:
“There was confusion on which City department would submit the second reading of the rezone to on the agenda. The City Attorney’s Office and the Hearing Examiner both thought the other department would make the submittal.”
After that issue was resolved, timing came down to finding a council meeting agenda not already filled up, amid weeks that contained lengthy, complex agendas that included the restructuring of Click’s business model and its surplus declaration, an emergency homeless shelter plan and a new firearms and ammunition tax, among other issues.
“In short, there was no substantive reason for the delay,” the statement added.
The measure eventually landed on the Dec. 17 agenda.
After the initial public notice in May of permitting in the works for the 105-bed facility, set to be operated by Signature Healthcare Services, and leading up to the examiner’s hearing on the case in July, the city received pushback from some of the site’s neighbors.
They have questioned the site’s operational security in relation to its proximity to neighborhoods, parks, a densely wooded area and schools.
Some people reiterated those concerns at the Dec. 10 community forum portion of the City Council meeting, stating again safety and traffic concerns as well as how the development could potentially affect property values.
Signature has vigorously defended its proposal for Tacoma, not only submitting answers to safety questions as part of the hearing examiner’s session this summer but also in gaining the initial certificate of need and entry into the Tacoma behavioral health care market.
Signature went to court after the state rejected its project, which had competed for a certificate of need wtih a rival proposal from CHI Franciscan and MultiCare — the two local health systems that partnered as the Alliance for South Sound Health and its 120-bed Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital.
In 2018, Signature, the two local health systems and the state’s Department of Health reached a settlement that allowed Signature to move forward with its proposal.
Signature’s planned facility is just a few blocks west of Wellfound, also on South 19th Street. That facility recently gained its safety accreditation from the Joint Commission, clearing the way for it to introduce new beds in phases next year.
Signature wrote to the city in July: “People who are in desperate need of substance use and behavioral health services are already in this Pierce County community. Adequately treating them makes the community safer.”
