Sacred Heart workers to rally Thursday over planned child inpatient psychiatric unit closure

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Sacred Heart nurses, technicians, service and maintenance workers plan to rally at Cowley Park in front of the hospital in Spokane Thursday evening.

The rally comes as Providence plans to permanently close the inpatient child psychiatric unit. The hospital system has said the closure was prompted by a lack of qualified health care workers applying and working in inpatient settings.

This closure means teens experiencing psychiatric challenges that may need inpatient treatment instead of outpatient will have the option of going to Inland Northwest Behavioral Health, to Kootenai County Health or to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Sacred Heart workers plan to rally at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, saying closing the 22-bed facility will have a major impact on families in the Inland Northwest.

“The closure of this unit will have huge consequences for families,” said Jaclyn Smedley, a WSNA nurse representative. “This means there are no longer any dedicated acute care hospital inpatient beds specializing in care for adolescents experiencing a mental health crisis. Kids may need to be taken out of their communities and driven to Tacoma or Seattle to receive treatment.”

RELATED: Providence shutting down youth inpatient psychiatric care center in Spokane

According to the Washington State Nurse's Association, the psych unit included a special area for teen patients dealing with high risk for harm to themselves and others. It also provided family therapy to help parents and siblings cope with mental health challenges.

Some nurses say this closure doesn't need to happen, according to WSNA. The organization said Providence chose not to accept millions of dollars in grant money to improve the psych unit for adolescents because it did not meet the requirement of providing care for at least the next 10 years as required by said grant.

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