As more Sound clients migrate out of the central Puget Sound area, Sound is making moves of its own. In spring of this year, Sound will open its 15th location, in the Kent business district, to ensure that clients who live in the area can more easily access the care they need. The decision to expand into Kent is part of Sound’s strategic initiative to enhance access to care for clients and reduce lengthy communities for team members who live in the area.
The facility will be located at 841 Central Avenue, just east of the downtown core. The facility, at 4,900 square feet, will be open to community members seeking quality mental health and addiction treatment services, which will include Kent residents participating in Sound’s Re-Entry program.
Once the build-out is completed in May or June, the new facility will feature nine treatment rooms, two group rooms, and one primary care room. Approximately nine team members and one peer support specialist will be there to serve the community. Initially, 300 clients who reside in the South Sound region will be served at the facility.
At the present time, Sound’s Marketing & Public Relations Department is partnering with clinical programs to engage in a community relations campaign to reach out to the Kent community, its leadership and elected officials. The team is sharing their plans, answering questions and explaining the numerous benefits the facility brings the community.
To date, community response has been extremely positive and fully embraced. Sound team members and clients, too, seem to appreciate the move.
“Access to care is a central part of our mission,” says Katrina Egner, Vice President & Chief Programs Officer. “Many of our clients have expressed a desire for services to be located closer to where they live and many of our team members, too, would appreciate working within the community in which they live. For these reasons, it was a very straightforward decision for Sound to open this new location.”
Sound will announce an open house to the community at a later date.