Z-0418.1

SENATE BILL 5516

BySenators Cleveland, Becker, Palumbo, Frockt, Dhingra, Darneille, Braun, Randall, Rivers, O'Ban, Keiser, Conway, Van De Wege, Wagoner, Das, Pedersen, Takko, Hunt, Zeiger, Carlyle, Liias, and Hasegawa; by request of Office of the Governor

AN ACT Relating to establishing a behavioral health innovation and integration campus within the University of Washington school of medicine; adding new sections to chapter 28B.20 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28B.20 RCW to read as follows:

The legislature finds that there is a need for services for individuals with behavioral health needs, and there is a shortage of behavioral health workers in Washington state. The legislature further finds that there is a need for a trained workforce that is experienced in fully integrated care and able to address a full range of needs, including primary care, mental health, and substance use disorder, in all health care specialties. The legislature further finds that there is a need to support rural and otherwise underserved communities around the state with timely telehealth specialty consultation.

The legislature further finds that the University of Washington school of medicine department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences is a nationally competitive program and has the expertise to establish innovative clinical inpatient and outpatient care for individuals with behavioral health needs while at the same time training the next generation of behavioral health providers, including primary care professionals, in inpatient and outpatient settings. The legislature further finds that the University of Washington school of medicine department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, along with the University of Washington schools of nursing, social work, pharmacy, public health, and other relevant disciplines, are especially well-situated to take on the task of developing this transformational service-oriented programing.

Therefore, the legislature intends to partner with the University of Washington to develop plans for the creation of the University of Washington behavioral health innovation and integration campus to increase access to behavioral health services in the state. Planning for the teaching campus should include: (1) Strengthening the nationally competitive psychiatry residency program to bring more psychiatrists to the state of Washington and training them to work with rural and otherwise underserved communities and populations; (2) training other health care providers, such as primary care doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, social workers, counselors, and peers, to work in teams that can address the physical, psychological, and social needs of individuals and families; and (3) expanding the telepsychiatry consultation program. Planning for the campus should also include capacity to provide inpatient care for up to one hundred fifty individuals who currently receive extended inpatient psychiatric care at western state hospital under the state's involuntary treatment act, chapter 71.05 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28B.20 RCW to read as follows:

A behavioral health innovation and integration campus is created within the University of Washington school of medicine. The campus must include inpatient treatment capacity and focus on inpatient and outpatient care for individuals with behavioral health needs while training a behavioral health provider workforce. The training must include an interdisciplinary curriculum and programs that support and encourage professionals to work in teams. The training must use current best practices and encourage innovation of future best practices in order to provide behavioral health care across the entire spectrum of health care providers.

(2) The plan may also include: (a) Adding psychiatry residency training slots focused on community psychiatry services; (b) initiating telehealth consultation to community-based hospitals, clinics, housing programs, nursing homes, and other facilities; (c) initiating a fellowship program for family physicians or other primary care providers interested in treating the patients with behavioral health needs; (d) initiating a residency program for advanced practice psychiatric nurses and advanced registered nurse practitioners interested in community psychiatry; and (e) developing integrated workforce development programs for new or existing behavioral health providers in partnership with training programs for nurses, nurse practitioners, medical assistants, social workers, other health care workers, and other workforce development efforts.

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