EVERETT, Wash.–Today, four of the largest community behavioral health providers in Washington State announced a new partnership called Fourfront Contributor, an advocacy and leadership coalition that utilizes their collective size and expertise to improve the health of individuals, communities and the systems that serve them. Member organizations include Compass Health, Comprehensive Healthcare, Frontier Behavioral Health and Sound. Serving more than 76,000 …
By Patrick Evans, Tom Sebastian and Jodi DalySpecial to The Times After more than a year, acknowledging the mental-health impacts of the pandemic is like acknowledging a five-alarm fire — unmistakable and growing increasingly urgent each day. Not only are we all still reeling from the effects of living through a pandemic, we now know …
Seattle Times: Fund behavioral-health providers essential to our COVID-19 recovery Read More »
By: Patrick Evans and Tom Sebastian After the pandemic’s impact on our economy and workforce, it’s clear that our state lawmakers will be navigating a range of challenges in an attempt to revive our communities and build a system that supports our collective recovery. One way to achieve a sustainable future is to invest in …
By Jeff Thomas, Jodi Daly and Tom Sebastian If there were any remaining doubts that mental health is fundamental to health itself, the pandemic has erased them. Over the past year, we’ve all felt the intrinsic connection between physical and mental wellness. Decades of research bears this out, and even the most recent COVID-19 studies …
The way community behavioral health is funded in Washington state has brought our system to a breaking point. Despite recent state investments, record workforce shortages persist – largely due to unsustainable funding models and an inability to provide competitive compensation to professionals. Without staff, providers cannot deliver care. Washington’s community behavioral health agencies are making …
The workforce shortage has persisted throughout the pandemic, and as a result, clients are facing greater obstacles to care. The crisis is dire – some centers have closed as a result of lacking staff, and those that remain opened have often had to shorten hours or require extra hours from remaining staff, threatening the sustainability …
In February 2022, Seattle Times reporter Michelle Baruchman connected with leaders across WA to learn more about workforce issues. As leaders on the community behavioral healthcare front, Fourfront Contributor CEOs and staff shared their insights. We’ve copied an excerpt of the Seattle Times article below. “Washington’s mental health workers are leaving their jobs in droves. “We …
