Suicide Fatality Reviews

The WSMA supports adequate resources, including funding and data accessibility from the Washington state legislature, to allow for the performance of fatality reviews (modeled after RCW 70.54.450) for all persons who died by suicide or overdose within 30 days of being discharged from a psychiatric hospital, or a hospital’s psychiatric emergency department, or a general acute care hospital to which the person had been admitted for psychiatric care due to the unavailability of an inpatient psychiatric placement. Based on these reviews, the Department of Health should make actionable recommendations to the Secretary of Health and the legislature around preventable causes of mortality.

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Abbreviations for House of Delegates report origination:

EC – Executive Committee; BT – Board of Trustees; CPA – Council on Professional Affairs; JC – Judicial Council; CHS – Community and Health Services