Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Behavioral Health Treatment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council affixes eight signatures to letter backing Thunderbird Treatment Center; members cite gap in inpatient beds
Summary
Councilmembers voted to affix eight signatures to a letter supporting the Seattle Indian Health Board’s Thunderbird Treatment Center on Vashon Island; members described a shortfall of treatment beds in King County and a $1.6 million capital gap for the project.
Councilmember Rob Strauss introduced a letter at the Jan. 6 briefing asking colleagues to affix their signatures in support of the Seattle Indian Health Board’s Thunderbird Treatment Center on Vashon Island. The clerk called a roll and eight councilmembers consented to have their signatures affixed to the letter.
Why this matters: council members said the toast of inpatient treatment capacity in King County leaves a gap for residents seeking residential addiction care, a disparity that the Thunderbird center aims to reduce for Indigenous and other residents.
Strauss, who said members of the Indigenous Advisory Council requested the council’s support, described the regional need: “Today, there are currently only 148 inpatient beds in King County, and Thunderbird Treatment Center would increase that by 62% to 240.” He said the center will offer culturally informed residential care and that the Seattle Indian Health Board’s prior 65‑bed facility in Pioneer Square closed in 2020.
At the briefing the council president described a prior budget proposal to provide “$1,600,000 of jump start funds in 2025 for appropriation to the Seattle Indian Health Board for capital cost to build the Thunderbird treatment center.” The president said the proposed new Thunderbird facility would have 92 beds and a 45‑day program modeled on “indigenous knowledge informed systems of care,” and quoted the health board president as expecting “70 to 80% of the patients served at Thunderbird will be from Seattle.”
Roll call and action: the clerk recorded the following votes to affix signatures: Councilmember Brink — yes; Councilmember Rivera — aye; Councilmember Saka — aye; Councilmember Strauss — yes; Councilmember Hollingsworth — yes; Councilmember Kettle — aye; Councilmember Moore — aye; Council President Nelson — aye. The clerk announced “8 signatures will be affixed.”
Council members said the council’s letter is intended to show municipal support while county and other funders consider capital gaps. Strauss urged colleagues and the county to recognize the center’s role in serving Seattle residents even though the facility is sited on Vashon Island.
