Two essential behavioral health providers in Kitsap County say they will be able to stay open after receiving an infusion of funding from the state last week.
The Washington state Department of Commerce announced Tuesday that both Agape Unlimited-run outpatient facility in Bremerton and Kitsap Recovery Center in Port Orchard will receive grant funding to make emergency capital improvements and avoid potential closures within the next few years.
In total, five facilities in Kitsap, Yakima and King counties will receive a total investment of $7.3 million from the state’s Closure Prevention Grant Program. Grant recipients had to demonstrate that without the state investment, they would likely close within the next two years.
“Many of our region’s behavioral health care providers operate on slim margins,” Commerce Director Mike Fong said in a press release. “Without this critical funding, they will likely close in the near future.”
Commerce estimates the money will allow it to maintain 236 mental health beds and outpatient treatment services, part of a statewide effort to eliminate private patient admissions at the state’s largest hospitals and shift them to smaller, community-based facilities.
Kitsap Recovery Center has been awarded more than $86,400 to repair and replace fire dampers, which are necessary to pass upcoming safety inspections and meet operational requirements.
The center has 27 inpatient beds and nine beds for subacute detoxification. It is the only medical detox facility in Kitsap County and sees more than 700 patients a year, according to Keith Winfield, clinical manager for the center.
“Receiving the Commerce Department grant will allow us to continue providing low-barrier, effective services to members of our community,” he said in a statement. “We are the only detoxification facility in the area, and the loss of that service would be a devastating blow to our community members.”
Agape Unlimited, a Bremerton-based nonprofit that helps people struggling with substance abuse, mental illness and homelessness, has been awarded a grant of more than $1.38 million that will be used to replace a crumbling retaining wall and parking lot at its outpatient facility on Auto Center Way.
Agape Executive Director Sarah Mares Fields said the funding will enable them to continue serving the community’s most vulnerable for years to come.
“Without this funding, our community would have suffered great hardship, losing a critical behavioral health facility that continues to build programs that support our community,” she said in a statement.
This article first appeared in the Kitsap Sun through the Murrow News Fellow program run by Washington State University.
