Pioneer Human Services asks Spokane County for short-term aid as stabilization center faces rising costs

Pioneer Human Services outlined operational successes at the county’s crisis stabilization center and urged Spokane County commissioners to provide short‑term funding to cover a growing operating gap.

Clint Jordan, vice president with Pioneer Human Services, told the board that the center has shown positive outcomes — a first‑quarter caseload of 563 people, an overall patient satisfaction score of 4.48 out of 5, and roughly 80% of clients entering ongoing care — but that the program is running a substantial budget shortfall. “In 2025 as a provider, we lost about $450,000 operating. In 2026, that projection is roughly around $500,000,” Jordan said.

Why it matters: the stabilization center provides 24/7 low‑barrier crisis care designed to reduce emergency‑department burdens and support first responders. Staff said average law‑enforcement drop‑off times are typically seven minutes or less and the site now serves roughly 30 people per day. Commissioners were told that maintaining continuous operations is critical to hospital and public‑safety partners.

Pioneer attributed its revenue shortfall mainly to rising labor costs for nurses and behavioral‑health clinicians and to managed‑care reimbursement that has not kept pace. “The managed care organizations have not raised their rates in multiple years,” Jordan said, adding that Pioneer is negotiating with three of the four regional MCOs and expects a partial transition by July 1 and a broader rate‑review outcome in January.

What Pioneer asked for: county staff relayed two near‑term requests to the board. One was carrying over $400,000 of opioid‑related (opiate) funds already approved by the board to cover the non‑Medicaid portion of services; the other was a one‑time use of mental‑health sales‑tax revenue to cover the remaining delta while MCO contracts and commercial payer agreements are finalized. County staff indicated draft contract amendments and funding language are ready to go on the board’s legislative agenda if the board directs placement.

County and provider next steps: staff said they have drafted occupancy/use amendments to address space and parking impacts during path‑facility construction and a revised payment methodology that includes new KPIs. Those items and the funding requests were slated for placement on next week’s legislative agenda pending any objection from commissioners; no formal vote was taken during the briefing.

Context and caveats: Pioneer emphasized that many metrics represent unique clients while other slides showed total encounters (repeat visits), and staff said they are standardizing windows for return‑to‑service metrics (for example, moving toward a 30‑day measure). Commissioners pressed staff for the geographic distribution of clients and for clarity on how county, state and MCO funding streams interact; staff said some of those details will be supplied in follow‑up materials.

The board advised staff to place the funding and contract amendments on the legislative consent agenda for next week’s session for further consideration.