To read archived news releases, please choose the appropriate year below:
Jul 24 2020
DSHS Office of Communications, Kelly Von Holtz, 360-902-7739
MEDICAL LAKE – The Department of Social and Health Services is pleased to announce that Jayme Skehan, RN, MSN, DNP has accepted the position of Chief Nursing Officer at the agency’s Eastern State Hospital.
Skehan may be new to this position, but she is not new to Eastern. She came to the hospital in 2017 through a consulting firm as the Interim Quality Director. That year, she assisted the facility in maintaining its accreditation by the ...read the full news release
Jul 17 2020
DSHS Office of Communications, Chris Wright, (360) 628-1043
OLYMPIA - The Department of Social and Health Services received a federal grant of nearly $890,000 to provide work-based job training for low-income, unemployed older Washingtonians. This grant will help prepare hundreds of older adults in Washington state for a post-COVID-19 economy.
DSHS will use the money to provide remote training opportunities and job preparation and coaching. Training will focus on gaining and retaining employment, digital literacy and technical ...read the full news release
Jul 14 2020
DSHS Office of Communications, Norah West, 360-902-7833
OLYMPIA -- Thanks to Automatic Voter Registration, or AVR, the Department of Social and Health Services can now register eligible clients to vote automatically when they apply for benefits.
"At DSHS, our mission is to transform lives and part of how we do that is by being good stewards of the public’s resources," said agency secretary Cheryl Strange. "In the case of Automatic Voter Registration, we’re making efficient use of existing IT programs, fulfilling our state and federal legal ...read the full news release
Jun 26 2020
DSHS Office of Communications, Kelly Von Holtz, 360-902-7739
OLYMPIA — Washington state has marked one year of progress in implementing a federal judge’s orders stemming from the Trueblood vs. DSHS lawsuit.
Trueblood challenges unconstitutional delays in competency evaluations and restoration services. The state has been ordered to provide court-ordered competency evaluations within 14 days and competency restoration services within seven days.
“Through ...read the full news release
Jun 25 2020
DSHS Office of Communications, Chris Wright, (360) 628-1043
Agency will then furlough employees one day a month through November
OLYMPIA – In order to comply with the furloughs ordered last week by Governor Jay Inslee, the Department of Social and Health Services will close its offices across the state starting on Monday, June 29 and continue to do so each Monday through July 20. During this time, ...read the full news release
