LAKEWOOD, WA --The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) announced that Western State Hospital has been provided an additional extension to the Systems Improvement Agreement (SIA) from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
This extension runs through November 2, 2017. CMS previously granted a 60-day extension in July followed by a 30-day extension in September.
CMS and DSHS entered into the original agreement in June 2016 to fix systemic operating problems at the hospital and restore the focus on patient treatment and overall safety. In May 2017, CMS conducted a follow-up survey that covered all areas of the hospital operations. The feedback from that survey was received on June 28, 2017 and can be found on the DSHS website.
Western will use this extension to continue making forward progress on improvements and work with CMS on next steps for the hospital. During the extension, the hospital continues to be certified by CMS and maintain its eligibility for federal funding.
More information on the SIA can be found on the DSHS web page.