Patients stuck in Washington hospitals pose quandary for state lawmakers

Patients stuck in Washington hospitals pose quandary for state lawmakers
Washington State Standard
December 6, 2023
Washington needs to do more to keep people from staying at hospitals longer than medically necessary, state health officials told lawmakers this week. Over the last five years, the Legislature has approved spending and policy changes to help shorten stays for “complex discharge” patients—those who are in hospitals but cannot be discharged to a long-term care or behavioral health facility for a variety of complicated reasons. In 2020, the average length of stay was 57 days for patients who were referred to the state for long-term support and Medicaid funding, compared to 32 days this year. But Bea Rector, assistant secretary for aging and long-term support at the Department of Social and Health Services, says 32 days is still too long.