Pierce County Puts $3M Into Tacoma Facility for 100+ With Behavioral Needs

Pierce County is investing $3 million to help Trouvés Health Care build a new licensed residential facility in Tacoma that will provide continuous care and support for more than 100 people with complex behavioral health needs. The facility will rise at 6640 S. Alaska St., directly next to the provider's existing long-term care campus, St. Ann's, at 6602 S. Alaska St.

The funding announcement, made Pierce County on Thursday, comes as the county formalized the award under Resolution R2026-178, following a proviso in the 2026–2027 Pierce County Biennial Budget adopted in November 2025, according to The County Legislator. Trouvés Health Care submitted the sole eligible application for the grant, per the same account. Trouvés serves people facing mental health challenges and people living with memory loss, and the provider already offers long-term compassionate care and services for vulnerable adults at its existing campus.

A Site Chosen for Its Proximity to Existing Care County officials say construction on the new facility is anticipated to begin in January 2027. Building the new residential facility right next to St. Ann's allows Trouvés to scale up long-term care for individuals transitioning out of civil commitment, since many residents served by Trouvés were previously civilly committed at Western State Hospital. Pierce County notes that this arrangement supports a broader Washington state policy to move civil commitments into community settings, freeing state hospital capacity for justice-system forensic commitments.

St. Ann's currently operates on a nine-acre campus using what Trouvés calls a “Feelings Matter Most” care model, which incorporates equine therapy and memory care research conducted in collaboration with the University of Washington, according to Trouvés Health Care Corporation. It is not the provider's first state-backed expansion effort. In November 2023, the Washington State Department of Commerce awarded Trouvés $2.45 million to purchase and renovate a facility in Fife, creating 16 crisis stabilization beds and 10 crisis observation recliners.

County Leaders Point to Emergency Room Relief Pierce County Councilmember Rosie Ayala, who championed the funding for District 4, said creating stable residential housing for residents with complex behavioral needs helps relieve emergency department crowding by keeping acute hospital beds open for medical emergencies. That framing follows a summer in which local emergency rooms felt acute psychiatric strain firsthand — Hoodline reported on an hourslong ER standoff in Bonney Lake last month that ended with an armed man shooting himself after barricading inside.

The Trouvés award is part of a much larger local investment effort. Pierce County recently distributed roughly $34 million in Behavioral Health and Therapeutic Courts funding to approximately 40 regional organizations, the county said. That spending sits alongside a dedicated public safety funding stream: in March 2026, the Pierce County Council enacted a 0.1% public safety sales tax to establish a “Justice Fund,” projected to raise more than $27 million annually for county criminal justice and public safety initiatives.

Statewide Push Behind the Local Dollars The county-level spending mirrors a much larger statewide effort. Through its Behavioral Health Facilities program, the Washington State Department of Commerce has allocated over $475 million to build nearly 3,000 beds and 50 outpatient facilities statewide since the program began, according to the Washington State Department of Commerce.

The need locally has been well documented. Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department data showed suicide was the 9th leading cause of death in Pierce County, with 156 suicide deaths recorded in 2023 — a statistic Hoodline highlighted earlier this year in its coverage of the county's suicide prevention summit and Bridge to Hope 5K. The new South Tacoma facility adds another piece to a growing list of county-backed behavioral health investments, even as families and advocates continue to press the county on how it responds to crises before they reach a hospital or a courtroom.

Pierce County Puts $3M Into Tacoma Facility for 100+ With Behavioral Needs

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