Completed mental health inpatient facility remains unopened: Thoughts from advocacy group and government representative

The Washington State government allotted over 79 million dollars to build an inpatient mental health facility next to the WSUV campus but allocated no funds to open and run it. Despite several corporate sponsors being interested in and willing to take over running the facility, United Health being the most prevalent; the State has currently opted to spend $490 thousand on a warm closure instead.  

The Brockmann Campus was in planning for over five years with its original location being on the corner of Fourth Plain and Andresen but was ultimately constructed next to WSUV and completed in late 2025. Capable of housing 48 patients at a time, the campus consists of three 16-bed facilities. This more than doubles the Vancouver area’s current count of about 25 mental health inpatient beds, which house patients full-time with intensive care.  

“Brockmann is a place for somebody to go and achieve treatment…
instead of having to go to jail…, we wanted them to be able to have someplace safe to go and get well” says Kim Schneiderman, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Southwest Washington and active member of advocacy group, Let’s Open Brockmann. 

Both mental health advocates and legislators alike were caught blindsided by the announcement that the government had not allocated funds to open the facility. “I’ve got a wonderful friend, representative Carolyn Eslick, who is on that mental health committee, and she had not even been informed about it.” Says 18th District Representative, John Ley, who is working with local advocacy groups like Let’s Open Brockmann to try to fund the facility. “We just weren’t told that that wasn’t going to be funded. And therefore, we didn’t even… have the opportunity to go fight or try to say, hey, is there a way we can get some of the money and get it partially open or whatnot?”  

Representative Ley states that the government is currently studying the viability of going forward with corporate partnerships, despite there being a history of private-public partnerships in the past. 

Right now, members of Let’s Open Brockmann, and anyone who would benefit from Brockmann’s opening, are waiting for the Governor’s office to decide on the future of Brockmann’s funding. However, Ley believes the approval of almost half a million dollars for a warm closure signals that there is not going to be any change in Brockmann’s status.  

In the Seattle Times, Caitlin Safford, the Policy Advisor for the Governor’s office regarding Brockmann was quoted saying, ‘that transferring the campus over to private ownership could present some complications. Doing so would impact the number of mental health beds the state is required to have. It also wouldn’t necessarily speed up the process for people to get into long-term treatment.’ Safford did not respond to the VanCougar’s request for comment.  

When asked about Safford’s statements, Schneiderman did not agree. “I’ve talked to Caitlin… They are not making any sense with some of the statements that they’re making because having private mental health beds [still] adds to the beds.” She emphasizes that private ownership can work and has worked across the nation.