SEATTLE (AP) – A patient attacked another patient at Washington state’s largest psychiatric hospital this week as federal regulators decide whether to cut millions of dollars to the facility over safety concerns.
The medical staff at Western State Hospital says the number of violent episodes is rising because staffing levels are inadequate.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent a 90-day termination notice to the hospital on Sept. 21 after investigators said staffers mishandled a previous patient-on-patient assault.
It was the hospital’s third warning of a funding cut this year. It receives about $16 million from the agency annually.
The federal agency says they’re aware of the most recent patient-on-patient attack, which happened Monday, and if the hospital doesn’t meet its standards by December, the facility will lose funding.