Providence/Fairfax mental health hospital best choice

I’m a registered nurse at Providence St. Peter Hospital’s Emergency Room. Yes, my bias is clear in the debates of Providence versus US HealthVest, but hear me out. So far, the current solution isn’t exactly inspiring.

Here in Thurston County we have two separate organizations who’ve asked permission to build a desperately needed inpatient psychiatric hospital. Providence (with Fairfax) has been around for decades. They’re non-profit, and they’ve served us well thus far.

The other is US HealthVest. They’re based out of New York, founded in 2012, and have hospitals scattered across the country. After browsing their website, I don’t see “non-profit” listed anywhere.

Who here is more likely to have the needs of Thurston County in mind?

Providence/Fairfax has been denied multiple times for the certificate of need, while US HealthVest continues to get applications approved but then have delays. The more delays we get, the more our patients suffer. I honestly don’t know why Providence/Fairfax was denied initially, but it’s time to put it aside. There are sick people waiting for us to figure it out. Please stop making them wait.

This story was originally published November 10, 2017 at 3:34 PM with the headline "Providence/Fairfax mental health hospital best choice."