Joel’s Law advocates seek expansion of law governing involuntary mental health treatment
May 07, 2025The parents of the man for whom Joel’s Law is named want it to allow friends to ask a judge to require involuntary treatment.
State’s solution to its budget deficit could cost hospitals millions of dollars
Apr 22, 2025Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, which owns both hospitals on the Kitsap Peninsula, is bracing for the fallout from Washington’s multi-billion dollar budget deficit and the impacts it could have across its network of Puget Sound hospitals. State hospitals have lost millions of dollars and struggled to regain profitability since the pandemic. Now, they estimate they
Bill would make it harder for insurance companies to deny mental health treatment
Apr 16, 2025The legislation, awaiting Gov. Bob Ferguson’s signature, requires insurance companies to follow transparent criteria when making determinations about mental health and substance abuse treatments.
Hospitals wary of potential cuts to Medicaid
Apr 15, 2025Republicans in Congress want to aggressively cut the budget, and health care leaders fear they will trim Medicaid — which could devastate rural hospitals.
Military medicine cutbacks put strain on civilian health care system — as well as service members and retirees
Apr 01, 2025Naval Hospital Bremerton offers fewer services than it did just a few years ago, forcing many patients into the overburdened civilian system.
Kitsap County clinic reports results from using TMS therapy to treat depression
Mar 20, 2025TMS therapy uses magnetic pulses to stimulate nerve cells in regions of the brain that typically have decreased activity when a patient has depression.
Fitness program for those with chronic illnesses grows, thanks to a grant from Franciscan
Mar 13, 2025A Virginia Mason Franciscan Health grant will help boost access to a YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap program that improves health for people facing diabetes, arthritis and other chronic illnesses.
State eyes savings from Medicaid pharmacy benefit, which could hurt clinics that help the most vulnerable
Mar 12, 2025Gov. Bob Ferguson wants to steer savings from the Medicaid pharmacy benefit into the general fund. This provider currently uses that money to pay for mobile health clinics.
Local measles vaccination rates remain high, though below pre-pandemic levels
Mar 07, 2025An overwhelming majority of students entering kindergarten on the Kitsap Peninsula are vaccinated against measles, state data shows. But immunization rates here and across the state remain below where they were before the pandemic. Students out of compliance — meaning they were neither vaccinated nor received an approved exemption — also rose among kindergarten classes
Hybrid ER-urgent care, opening this week in Bremerton, could ease strain on region’s medical care system
Mar 03, 2025Virginia Mason Franciscan says the hybrid emergency room, or dual purpose medical facility, is the first of its kind in the state.