Major changes are unlikely at both Medical Lake institutions, which are sure to see funding impacts over the next biennium
By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
While the 2011 state Legislative session may not hold the same closure threats as last year for Medical Lake facilities, both Lakeland Village and Eastern State Hospital are still likely to see funding cuts this year and beyond.
Last Friday Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law a supplemental budget that reduces projected state spending by about $236 million between now and June 30, when this fiscal year ends. More than $70 million of that will come out of long-term care, developmental disability and mental health programs.
Washington's Residential Habilitation Centers (RHCs), of which Lakeland is one of five, will see a $2 million cut through changes in training programs, increased client density, cottage closures and staff layoffs. At Eastern State an estimated $626,000 will be saved through “increased efficiencies” and elimination of funding for 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions over the next two years.
The state will also save approximately $316,000 via reduced operating costs and elimination of five FTEs with Consolidated Support Services, a maintenance arm of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) that services Eastern State and Lakeland Village.
This is the second supplemental budget to be released in the last three months and the possibility of a third looms large as the state confronts a remaining $220 million deficit before the close of the fiscal year. The Legislature is also looking at how they'll cut nearly $5 billion from a 2011-13 biennial budget that will go into effect July 1.
According to John Wiley, DSHS media relations manager for the Eastern region, exactly how and when these reductions will be carried out at the agency level is hard to nail down, although some cuts have already taken place. After Gregoire ordered a $6.3 million across the board cut to state agencies last fall Eastern State cut six FTEs and Lakeland dropped four. Wiley said most of those reductions were achieved by cutting back on overtime and delayed hiring for long-vacant positions. Since last year Lakeland has also seen the closure of two cottages and the merging of three program areas into two.
It's unclear if further reductions at Lakeland and Eastern State will take place without layoffs or more consolidation over the coming biennium, but Wiley said for now both institutions have escaped major changes, such as the shutdown of a 30-bed ward at Western State Hospital or a scheduled June closure of Francis Haddon Morgan, an RHC located in Bremerton.
A second RHC, Yakima Valley School, is slated for closure next year, a further testament to the state shift toward “state-operated living arrangements,” which are community-based group homes for those with developmental disabilities. Washington Federation of State Employees spokesman Tim Welch said the state should assure a place remains for both “SOLAS” and RHCs in the state's continuum of disability care.
“With SOLAS you still have the same quality of state employees who are well trained, but many of those now in RHCs require an acute level of care. It costs more in a community setting to care for those individuals,” Welch said.
Lee Malinda, a counselor at Lakeland and vice president of WFSE Local 573, said RHCs like Lakeland provide a “holistic living environment” that is not attainable in a community-based group home. “This whittling away at RHCs doesn't do the community any favors,” she said, adding that many of her clients would be victimized or become repeat offenders if placed in community settings, where there are fewer resources. “We have dances, a dining room, a chapel, a gym, a pool…The services we provide at Lakeland are just not available anywhere else.”
As the state closes other RHCs there will be an increase in clients coming to Lakeland, which is already understaffed and underfunded according to those who work there. Malinda said layoffs elsewhere in the state will also trickle down to the Medical Lake facilities through the process of “bumping,” which gives union members the chance to move into a similar position held by someone with less seniority.
As Legislators continue to move toward their biennial budget, Welch said Lakeland and Eastern State are likely going to bear similar burdens as other state institutions. “A few weeks from now we may see some proposals to close cottages at Lakeland, or wards in the case of Eastern State Hospital,” he said. “The trend right now is to attack all institutions, and we're going to see a heightened attack when we see the operating budget.”
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].
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