New medical respite facility opens in Whatcom County
The Way Station, a new short-term residential care facility in Bellingham, has opened and will begin offering medical respite services in early 2025. The facility will help clients experiencing homelessness recuperate in a safe environment staffed by non-clinical respite counselors while accessing medical care and other support services such as:
- Home health
- Infusion
- Follow-up care
- Case management
- Care coordination
- Connections to behavioral health care
- Medication prompting
- And more
The Way Station is permitted by the City of Bellingham as an emergency shelter and is built to align with the standards for medical respite developed by the National Institute for Medical Respite Care (NIMRC). The Health Care Authority (HCA) provided guidance to the Opportunity Council of Bellingham to register the Way Station as a medical respite facility.
The 17-bed medical respite program will provide critical services for Washington’s most vulnerable populations, including the nearly 2,000 unhoused individuals in Whatcom County.