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 DSHS purchased a recently-closed private hospital in Tukwila to repurpose it as a behavioral health facility. DSHS leaders toured the facility Wednesday to begin planning the move-in process.
The June announcement of the closure of Cascade Behavioral Health Hospital in Tukwila was a blow to King County. The county is short on behavioral health capacity, and the closure of the largest such private hospital in the state would mean the loss of 137 beds. But that closure presented an opportunity, and the state seized it Wednesday by announcing plans to purchase and use the hospital for behavioral health care.
?I appreciate the work of the department to act quickly so the state could prepare a competitive bid,? said Gov. Jay Inslee. ?We will move as quickly as we can to prepare the hospital to serve patients.?
The hospital is in good condition and was operational until its closure in July. The state Department of Social and Health Services expects to make beds available in a matter of weeks.
?We believe this was a prime opportunity for us to add immediate capacity in a location that is easily accessible for staff, patients, and their families,? DSHS secretary Jilma Meneses said.
Meneses and assistant secretary Kevin Bovenkamp toured the hospital Wednesday to begin planning the move-in process. Most of the hospital?s amenities and technology are move-in ready, but there is something missing: people. Nearly 300 employees were laid off when Cascade Behavioral Health Hospital closed, and DSHS is actively looking to hire a good number back.
?Our goal is to move in as fast as we possibly can, given our ability to get it staffed and running safely and properly,? said Bovenkamp.
 The Washington State Patrol is soon to open this new toxicology lab in Federal Way to process evidence and reduce delays in holding impaired drivers accountable.
2022 was the deadliest year on Washington state roadways since 1990, back around the time when seatbelt laws were just becoming commonplace. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission sited alcohol impairment as a leading factor. One-third of last year?s fatal crashes were caused by alcohol-positive drivers.
The Washington State Patrol operates a toxicology lab to process blood evidence results from suspected drunk drivers, and they will soon open another in Federal Way. The new lab will reduce delays in processing and help hold impaired drivers accountable.
WSP also recently adopted a new statewide hit-and-run alert system. When a hit-and-run causes serious injury, an alert with a description of the suspect may be released to a subscriber list of media. The faster word gets out, the better the odds of finding the suspect.
The state Department of Corrections has been innovating, too. They are now training dogs to sniff out fentanyl to prevent its import into correctional facilities. According to data from the National Institutes of Health, as much as 85% of the American prison population actively uses drugs. If corrections officers can arrest the flow of narcotics, they can limit drug use and help ensure that inmates are on a path to recovery and rehabilitation. DOC?s goal is to positively transform lives and make the people in their care better neighbors when released.
Untraceable "ghost guns" are illegal again, for now. The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay on Tuesday of a district court judgment that had invalidated the Biden Administration's ban on untraceable firearms. The stay has temporarily revived the rule, but the legal challenge is ongoing.
"I applaud the Supreme Court's decision to allow the regulation of ghost guns while the legal challenge continues. Washington state stands united with many other states in our pursuit of safer communities. Thank you to @AGOWA and?all others who are working for safer communities," tweeted Gov. Jay Inslee.
"Ghost guns" are unserialized firearms, often self-manufactured. Some use parts made by 3D printers and readily-available plans, and others use production-grade parts sold by manufacturers as unfinished. In most cases, these parts are easily finished to become operable. In effect, lethal and untraceable guns can be sold around state and federal laws, absent background checks, and absent any accountable chain of custody.
In Washington state, manufacture of "ghost guns" with intent to sell them is a felony. But as untraceable parts are so easily bought, sold, and distributed, federal inaction likely allowed ghost guns to keep flowing in. Attorney General Bob Ferguson joined 21 other attorneys general last month to issue an amicus brief in support of the Biden Administration's ban.
?We cannot allow untraceable weapons to continue flooding our communities, which makes it much harder for law enforcement to solve crimes and makes it far too easy for felons, domestic abusers, juveniles, and others to illegally acquire deadly weapons,? said Ferguson.
?There is a natural limit to states? abilities to combat a nationwide problem that crosses state borders. Absent federal enforcement, ghost guns have continued to proliferate, including in the very states that have been trying to keep them out.?
 Gov. Jay Inslee has signed gun violence prevention bills that limit magazine capacity, ban assault weapons, and prohibit "ghost guns." With enforcement difficult under a patchwork of statutes around the country, Washington state also needs federal action to regulate unserialized and untraceable firearms in circulation.
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