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Spokane BHASO outlines plans for 988/RCL integration, mobile dispatch unit and sobering/crisis relief center
Summary
Spokane County BHASO staff described efforts to streamline 988 and the regional crisis line, a planned mobile dispatch unit to coordinate in‑person crisis responses, upcoming regional dispatch protocols and plans for a co‑located crisis relief and sobering center expected in early 2027.
Ashley McGee, integrated behavioral health manager with the Spokane County Regional Behavioral Health Administrative Service Organization, updated the Spokane Regional Crisis Collaborative on Dec. 18 about statewide and regional moves to integrate 988 and regional crisis line (RCL) functions and to streamline in‑person crisis dispatch across the six‑county region.
McGee said the Washington State Department of Health and Health Care Authority issued a joint policy statement envisioning 988 as an entry point and RCL for regionally specific professional coordination. McGee said Frontier Behavioral Health currently operates both 988 and the RCL in the Spokane region, which the BHASO views as an opportunity for vertical integration.
To improve dispatch efficiency McGee described plans with Frontier to build a “mobile dispatch unit” (MDU) — a scribe, response, triage and mobile dispatch coordination unit — that would receive in‑person dispatches from 988 or the RCL and then coordinate the most appropriate local response. McGee said the unit is intended to streamline communications and not to change how the public accesses crisis services: people can continue to call 988 or the regional crisis line.
McGee said the state is developing endorsement standards for mobile rapid response and community‑based crisis teams tied to statutes implementing 988. She told the group the BHASO is drafting comprehensive regional dispatch protocols, with a planned finalized release in July 2025, and will seek stakeholder input on the draft at future SRCC meetings.
On routing calls from out‑of‑area phone numbers, a Frontier representative said the FCC approved geo‑routing in October and calls will be routed to the call center nearest the cell tower that handled the call, rather than solely by area code.
McGee also described local facility planning: the Spokane Regional Stabilization Center provides three levels of care — mental health stabilization, co‑occurring residential services and withdrawal management — and the county is planning a crisis relief and sobering center on the same campus that would provide up to 23 hours, 59 minutes of observation, walk‑in access and drop‑off by emergency responders. McGee said the sobering-and‑triage work is being funded in part with opioid settlement funds and that the anticipated completion date for the co‑located facility is early 2027.
McGee invited questions and said the BHASO will return to the collaborative to present the regional dispatch protocols and to continue stakeholder feedback.
