UW’s new mental health hospital can’t fill its beds

The University of Washington opened a behavioral health hospital last May, with a price tag of almost 250 million dollars. 

It was built for the long-term care of patients who’ve been involuntarily committed due to struggles with mental health, and expectations for the hospital were high. 

But a shortage of public defense attorneys has kept the 150 beds mostly empty. And the patients the hospital is hoping to take in are often being sent back home.

Seattle Times mental health reporter Jayati Ramakrishnan explains why. 

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