Southwest Washington Behavioral Health

Southwest Washington Behavioral Health (SWBH) administers and coordinates public mental services in Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania Counties. Formed October 1, 2012, SWBH operates through an inter-local agreement between the three counties.

Working collaboratively with all system stakeholders, SWBH envisions a community that encourages recovery, cultural competency, engagement, clinical excellence and access to services in a welcoming environment.

SWBH is strategically implementing system changes to align with health care reform as required through the federal Affordable Care Act and Washington state’s initiatives.

Goals of the organization include:

• Regional implementation of best, promising, evidence-based, recovery-oriented, and culturally competent practices for children and adults.
• Standardization and improvement of data collection on consumer and system process and outcome variables.
• Positioning for health care reform by developing organizational capacity to respond and adapt rapidly to new system requirements and opportunities (e.g. behavioral health/primary care integration).
• Commitment to maintaining and improving local systems of health care service delivery responsive to Southwest Washington’s distinct communities, cultures, resources and needs.
• Local responsiveness to the needs of the people of each participating county and tribal jurisdiction, including Clark County, Cowlitz County, Skamania County, and the Cowlitz Tribe, as well as any additional jurisdictions that may join over time.

The entity has a governing board consisting of three members. Current representatives include: Councilor David Madore, Clark County; Commissioner Dennis Weber, Cowlitz County and Commissioner Chris Brong, Skamania County.

Primary business is conducted at the Center for Community Health, 1601 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., Building #17, Vancouver, WA, 98661.