Western State Hospital Mission Statement Analysis

Promoting recovery and well-being in partnership with the people we serve. This is the mission statement at Western State Hospital (WSH). As I spoke with Mike about the significance and meaning behind the mission statement he said, “You tell me.” Feeling perplexed over being put on the spot, I thought of the words within the mission statement. Additionally, I began to connect what we do at WSH and the clientele we serve. The promoting recovery and well-being seems simple enough, we are a hospital, however, when you apply the in “partnership with the people we serve it,” begins to have a deeper more complex meaning. Though WSH is a mental hospital, the clientele it serves goes beyond the patients, with services to the families and the communities within the state. I was surprised by how well the mission statement captured everything we do at WSH. The patients at WSH fall into one of, if not, all three of these categories; a harm to self, a harm to others,

It was renamed Western Washington Hospital for the Insane and the main ward was completed in 1887. In each of the following decades numerous buildings were constructed and in the late 90’s the newest building on the East Campus was constructed. The East Campus houses the criminally insane and those who are being evaluated to determine if they are competent to stand trial. In addition to the structural changes at WSH, the treatment and policies have changed. These changes come as no surprise with an institution that is over a century old, and the advances in medicine and the evolution of ethical practices. Now, days WSH utilizes psychotropic drugs, counseling, and behavior modification therapies. The hospital is also under strict guidelines from the American Psychological Association (APA), and the CMS, not to mention, state and federal laws, which changes from year to year, with new regulations and diagnosis