Cowlitz County commissioners discuss private-sector plan for new mental‑health hospital and 16‑bed Charlie’s site

County officials and members of the public discussed private proposals to expand local behavioral‑health capacity, including a 16‑bed facility at the former Charlie’s building and a larger hospital at the end of Broadway, during a Tuesday morning Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners meeting.

County officials described the Charlie’s project as the likeliest to open first and said Emerald City and a separate operator are pursuing two different, linked projects: a smaller 16‑bed program at Charlie’s and a separate plan for the Broadway hospital. The county said it will assist with permitting and coordination but is not planning to provide direct financial subsidies to for‑profit operators.

The discussion matters because commissioners and local service providers expect both projects to affect referrals, workforce needs and bed availability for Cowlitz County residents. Commissioners said they are pursuing coordination with the Great Rivers Behavioral Health Organization to align referrals and service mixes if the Broadway plan proceeds.

At the meeting a county official who presented on the topic said: "They are very interested in that piece of property," referring to the hospital at the end of Broadway, and described a separate entity working on the Charlie’s site. The official said the Charlie’s project "will probably go through first" because it is further along and because the Broadway hospital involves negotiations with PeaceHealth about the property.

On who would occupy the Charlie’s beds, the presenter said the initial patients would be Cowlitz County residents moved back from state hospitals and that the state has been under pressure to relocate patients because of fines tied to compliance. The presenter described the Broadway hospital as intended for a mix of services — "mental health, long term, substance abuse rehab" — and said the team is exploring a drug court partnership and homeless‑services coordination.

A member of the public asked whether county residents would have priority access and whether beds could be reserved for local people. The presenter replied that referrals to the Broadway hospital would come first from local service providers and members of the Great Rivers Behavioral Health Organization network, and that "we're gonna have first dibs because it's gonna be our service providers that are referring people to that hospital." The presenter added that the hospital was being planned as a regional center with different floors providing different services.

Commissioners and presenters also discussed workforce and operational scale. The presenter said preliminary planning suggested "upwards of 260 employees to be able to run that thing 24/7." In earlier remarks the presenter said about 19 Cowlitz County residents remained in Western State Hospital at one point, which shaped urgency for local capacity.

Commissioners also said they had met with Emerald City and other private operators and would convene a stakeholder meeting with Great Rivers Behavioral Health Organization later in the month to discuss service overlaps and referral arrangements. The presenter said the county would help with permitting and other nonfinancial support, but: "We are not planning on helping fund a private sector for profit organization when it comes to money. But anything that we can do to help them with the hospital, the permitting process, whatever we can do to help, we're gonna we're move gonna help them in any way."

The meeting record contains no formal motions or votes about either project. Commissioners described ongoing, preliminary conversations and plans to meet with stakeholders; no county funding commitments or contracts were authorized at the session.

County officials repeatedly said the projects were preliminary and that details such as referral protocols, bed reservation policies and final funding structures remained under discussion. Speakers emphasized that different operators would likely run separate floors or programs within the Broadway hospital and that Charlie’s and the Broadway site were being developed as distinct entities.

Plans discussed at the meeting include: using the Charlie’s site first to return certain state hospital patients to local care; a larger Broadway facility intended to provide a one‑stop mix of services, potentially including drug court; and workforce hiring estimated in the hundreds if the Broadway hospital moves forward. Commissioners said they would press for arrangements ensuring local residents’ access but stopped short of committing county funds or bed reservations.

The item drew sustained public interest and prompted follow‑up coordination tasks for county staff and commissioners. The county scheduled further stakeholder talks with Great Rivers Behavioral Health Organization to refine referral arrangements and service design.