A Spokane Valley behavioral health treatment center is closing next month with staff struggling to ensure its 1,750 patients are referred elsewhere after the abrupt announcement last Friday.
Therapeutic Solutions is based out of California and opened a Spokane Valley branch in 2018. It originally opened under the name Psychiatric Solutions but rebranded several years ago. The psychiatry-based clinic provides talk therapy, prescribes medication to treat mental health issues and offers other behavioral health services.
The March 14 closure of the Spokane Valley location was announced to staff last Friday, and patients were notified at the beginning of this week. Few details have been given.
to Spokane staff, other than a closure date and when each staff member would be laid off.
“It felt very unfair. It was an executive decision and lacked a good timeline to provide the best care to our patients,” she said.
Approximately a third of the clinic’s patients are of “higher-acuity” and may need inpatient care if treatment is interrupted, Barnes said.
The closure comes at a time when mental health care in the Inland Northwest is already hurting.
Last year, Providence Sacred Heart hospital closed its 24-bed Psychiatric Center for Children and Adolescents. Outside of the hospital systems, much of the inpatient behavioral health care in Spokane is provided at Inland Northwest Behavorial Health, which has approximately a combined hundred beds for adult and adolescent care.
Spokane Valley location Executive Director Alicia Tomlinson said their practice has received more than 400 calls a day since patients were informed of the closure via email and text message on Monday.
“Our team values our patients. It has been an honor to work with them. We truly empathize with how difficult this is. We really do care and are trying to provide the care we can. We know that there are not enough resources in Spokane. Our heart breaks,” she said.
Therapeutic Solutions patient Caitlin Meehan has been unable to speak with anyone from the Spokane or California office since she learned of the closure on Monday.
“It just goes to voicemail. I don’t have an appointment before they close, and so I guess I will never see my psychiatrist again. It’s really disgusting,” Meehan said.
Calls by The Spokesman-Review to the office in Chico, California, have not been answered as of Thursday evening. Local staff of the behavioral health center said they have not communicated with the Chico office since the closure was announced.
Tomlinson said she was “shocked” by the news. Barnes believed Therapeutic Solutions had been expanding. As recently as late last year, there were plans to open another treatment center in North Idaho.
At the end of the month, all but a few staff will be laid off. Remaining staff members will be tasked with connecting patients to new care providers. Because staff may be unable to reach each patient individually, Tomlinson made a list of resources in the area to provide to patients that was sent Thursday.
In an email provided to The Spokesman-Review by Meehan, the company said it was “committed to ensuring a smooth transition for all our patients.”
“Our team is actively working on plans to help patients connect with the right resources and providers for ongoing support. For transition of care, if you are in need of medical records requests or medication refills, please contact our office and leave a voicemail with our medical assistant team so may best assist you,” the email reads.
The email also states that the California office will remain open, and Washington patients can receive care there. According to the company’s website, telepsychiatry is offered there. In addition, it lists more than 30 other places to receive psychiatric care, though not for inpatient services.
