Report: Western State Hospital CEO ordered to admit patient or go to jail

Western State Hospital CEO Cheryl Strange has been given an option: admit a patient or go to jail.

And Strange is not budging.

Related: Western State Hospital CEO fired following recent escapes

The Seattle Times reports that Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Craig Adams posed the option to Strange because a patient has been waiting months to be detained at the state psychiatric facility. A civil court initially ordered the patient to be detained in April, then again in May.

But Western State Hospital argues it has no room for the patient, who was instead held under “single-bed certification.” That means they were detained at a general hospital. This practice, however, is unlawful according to the Times.

If the patient is not quickly admitted to Western State Hospital, Strange has been ordered to report to jail on June 15. Strange said Friday that she does not intend to admit the patient, noting that the state hospital has a waitlist with other people ahead of the patient who she says is stable at the hospital they are currently at.

Strange has been on the job for less than two months after previous CEO Ron Adler was fired. The hospital was hit with a string of bad press after numerous patients escaped.

Western State Hospital is a state-run psychiatric hospital and is the largest such facility west of the Mississippi with more than 800 beds.

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