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This yr, Snohomish County confronted a tripledemic, psychological well being challenges, an ongoing drug disaster, and monetary and staffing upheaval for well being care suppliers. However 2023 arrives with the hope of extra assets for behavioral well being therapy and prevention, extra entry to medical health insurance and a brand new county public well being division.
• COVID continues to evolve as a virus and as a public well being difficulty: killing individuals and disrupting lives within the short- and long-term. We began the yr with omicron, then masks got here off and we ended the yr with bivalent boosters.
• The tripledemic of viruses in late 2022 — COVID, RSV, and the flu — led to renewed requires vaccinations and masking indoors. The excellent news: the variety of confirmed flu instances continued to decline in Washington for the week ending Dec. 24.
• The opioid epidemic continues, with deaths from fentanyl tripling from 2018 to 2021 in Snohomish County. A slim silver lining: the county and cities are spending some American Rescue Plan Act cash on behavioral well being, and coordinating how one can spend opioid settlement funds for therapy, prevention and different companies.
• The state launched a suicide and disaster hotline in July, and later a Native and Sturdy Lifeline devoted to American Indian and Alaska Native peoples in November. One of many three name facilities is in Everett.
• The youngsters aren’t alright. The Healthy Youth Survey documented behavioral well being challenges amongst youth within the county, with will increase in despair and suicide ideation amongst twelfth graders, and excessive charges of tension and despair amongst each tenth and twelfth graders.
• The adults aren’t doing nice both. An annual survey of Snohomish County residents in 2022 shows a decline in well being & well-being, in line with the Windfall Institute for a More healthy Neighborhood. This decline was pushed by “decrease total satisfaction with psychological and emotional well-being,” and “decrease self-reported life satisfaction and total well-being.”
• Neighborhood Well being Facilities and the Edmonds College District partnered to open the primary school-based clinic within the county, providing medical, dental and behavioral well being companies. Within the district, 19% of twelfth graders reported suicide ideation final yr.
• A state law now permits college students to take excused absences for psychological health-related causes.
• The Snohomish Well being District and the county approved a merger to hopefully improve public well being companies for residents. The merger will probably be full Jan. 1.
• The U.S. Supreme Courtroom overturned Roe v. Wade, placing reproductive rights within the arms of states. A transfer is below method in Washington to placed on the ballot a constitutional modification to guard these rights.
• The Washington state legal professional basic sued Windfall Swedish, together with the Everett and Edmonds hospitals, over affected person charity care and debt assortment insurance policies and practices.
• A brand new state regulation went into impact in July, increasing entry to hospital charity care.
• Regence and Optum (The Everett Clinic and Polyclinic) hit a contract impasse that’s nonetheless resulting in uncertainty for Medicare Benefit members.
• Washington’s Cascade Care Financial savings well being plans went dwell with a new tax credit for 2023, providing inexpensive medical health insurance to people who earn an excessive amount of for Medicaid. The state estimated that 90% of well being profit alternate clients in Snohomish County might discover a cheaper plan for 2023.
• Washington obtained approval to increase the time from 60 days to 12 months for post-partum care that may be covered by Medicaid. About 3,000 individuals had been enrolled in “pregnant girls’s protection” in Snohomish County as of November.
• The well being care staffing crisis continues, resulting in lengthy wait occasions for sufferers, maxed out capability – particularly for youngsters – and excessive labor prices for well being care employers. A controversial nurse staffing ratio bill didn’t move once more in 2022. Supporters will make one other run at it in 2023.
•Washington hospital leaders repeatedly raised alarms about their dire financial situation, calling for state and federal modifications to extend reimbursements and reduce prices.
Would you prefer to share a private story about any of those points? Name or e-mail Pleasure Borkholder.
We’re additionally planning to report on entry to well being care in 2023. You probably have confronted obstacles to accessing well timed, handy and/or inexpensive care in Snohomish County, please fill out this transient type: forms.gle/DcgfccCvwqVTh6Sk7
Pleasure Borkholder is the well being and wellness reporter for The Each day Herald. Her work is supported by the Health Reporting Initiative, which is sponsored partially by Premera Blue Cross. The Each day Herald maintains editorial management over content material produced by this initiative.
Pleasure Borkholder: 425-339-3430; joy.borkholder@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @jlbinvestigates.
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