COVID-19 outbreak tops 200 cases at Washington's key forensic hospital
Washington's Western State Hospital, the facility at the center of much of the Trueblood litigation's hospital-capacity fight, reported a COVID-19 outbreak topping 200 cases along with staff layoffs in late 2020. The outbreak compounded capacity problems already under a federal consent decree over competency wait times.
The episode was one of several across the country during the pandemic where infection-control needs collided directly with a legal obligation to admit incompetent defendants quickly, forcing states to choose between two competing safety concerns.
Source: COVID-19 cases top 200 at Western State Hospital as layoffs announced — OPB, by Martha Bellisle, Associated Press
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