It seems that the State of Washington, which everyone knows is just rolling in taxpayer money, decided to build the new facility but neglect to staff it! Olympia just can’t wait to spend every penny coming in at least three times, even before it is received! Emphasis mine.
WELCOME TO WASHINGTON STATE GOVERNMENT Where the cart doesn’t just go before the horse—it gets a $78 million capital appropriation and leaves the horse standing in the parking lot.
Washington spent roughly $78.75 million building the Brockmann behavioral-health campus in Vancouver. Three buildings. 48 beds Brand new Construction completed in 2025 And the best part? Nobody is using it.
Why? Because after spending the money to build the damn thing, Washington hadn’t provided the operational funding necessary to actually staff and operate it. That’s right. They remembered the buildings, they forgot the employees.
Apparently, psychiatrists, nurses, technicians and support staff are considered optional accessories. Maybe they were supposed to be included in the next biennium. You know… Like batteries sold separately.
And here’s another little detail that makes this whole thing even more interesting: Vancouver iTech Preparatory—a public STEM school serving roughly 600 students—is across the street. So Washington has a brand-new behavioral-health campus sitting unused near a school full of kids.
I’m sure somebody thought through that proximity when they selected the site. iTech Prep is at 16100 NE 50th Ave Brockmann is 16015 NE 50th Ave Right? I mean, what could possibly go wrong with putting a secure behavioral-health facility next to a school? Oh wait… It isn’t even operating.
So I guess that’s one way to solve the safety concern: Just don’t open it. Problem solved. Of course, that does raise another question: If the facility is so important that Washington spent nearly $79 million building it, why isn’t it important enough to fund the staff required to operate it?
That’s where Washington’s budgeting genius really shines: Build it Don’t fund it Lock it up Pay someone to maintain it Hold listening sessions Study the problem Then ask taxpayers for more money Brilliant. And let’s be clear: Washington needs behavioral-health beds. That’s what makes this even more infuriating.
The problem isn’t building treatment capacity. The problem is spending tens of millions on the building without having the operational plan and recurring funding lined up to actually use it.
Imagine doing this in your own life: You build a $500,000 garage Buy all the tools Install the lifts Pave the driveway Then realize you forgot to budget for mechanics.
So you lock the doors, hire a security guard and hold six meetings to decide what you’re going to do with your new garage. Your spouse would probably have some questions.
In Olympia? That’s apparently called strategic planning.
And that’s the real problem with Washington’s budget priorities. There is always money for: Another program Another agency Another study Another consultant Another lawsuit Another spending package Another shiny government initiative
But somehow there’s not enough money to open the facility taxpayers already paid to build. This isn’t fiscal responsibility. It’s government spending with a ribbon-cutting fetish. Capital projects are easy to announce. They photograph well. Politicians get to stand in front of a shiny new building and tell everyone how much they’re accomplishing.
But staffing? Operating costs? Maintenance? Long-term commitments? That’s where the bill comes due. And that’s apparently where the planning ends, so congratulations, Washington.
You built a 48-bed behavioral-health facility for nearly $79 million and turned it into a taxpayer-funded monument to the phrase: “We’ll figure that part out later.”
And while you’re figuring it out, you’ve got a public STEM school nearby serving hundreds of students.
But don’t worry The building is secure The alarms work The locks work The taxpayers are paying for maintenance And the beds remain empty Because apparently in Washington state, the only thing that needs to be operational is the spending machine. The rest can wait .
As Rip says in his post, Washington State is badly in need of “behavioral health” treatment beds (see Seattle with its thousands of street vagrants suffering from mental illness). They are currently in the process of upgrading the state’s only mental asylum, Western State Hospital, which lost its license from Medicare years ago due to unsafe and deteriorating facilities and inadequate staffing. But our “Betters” in Olympia only like to throw our money around, NEVER assessing the effectiveness of any of that profligate spending. That is typical Leftist behavior, by the way. Intentions are the only thing that matter, effectiveness does not.
I only have one additional question. In a previous post here, I highlighted the statistic that in August the State added 8100 ADDITIONAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES! Why were none of them allocated to the Brockmann Behavioral Health Campus in Vancouver? Now the State Taxpayers are sitting on an unused behavioral treatment center, just throwing away MY MONEY!
Calling-all-RushBabes 