Bridges to Home: Homelike skilled nursing care for medically fragile children being built in Shoreline

Ashley House is a nonprofit with thirty years of experience caring for children with complex medical needs and caring for families as their kids transition from hospital to home. 

They have partnered with Seattle Children’s Hospital to develop Bridges to Home, which will be the first pediatric skilled nursing facility in Washington State. Bridges to Home will provide fifteen beds with 24/7 skilled nursing services for children.

Kids with medically complex needs are difficult to discharge because our region has no skilled nursing facility dedicated to children. Hospital care for medically complex children can exceed $10,000 per day, and there is a waiting list for pediatric hospital beds.

Seattle Children’s had more than 1500 “avoidable days” last year, when children were ready to leave the hospital but could not be discharged because no facility could provide 24/7 nursing and other essential supports. Many pediatric providers and payers are seeking a solution.

 
Bridges to Home will provide appropriate care at a much lower cost in the community. Services will include care for children using ventilators, dialysis, feeding tubes and other complex treatments.

Parents will be able to learn how to provide care in a home-like setting, where siblings and loved ones can visit. Social workers will help plan kids’ transitions and nursing care and case management will follow families home.

The facility will be located at 18904 Burke Ave N, Shoreline, WA 98133. A former, very large, single family home is being remodeled to fit the needs of Ashley House. The organizers and board members have been communicating closely with immediate neighbors and the Echo Lake Neighborhood Association (ELNA). 

The property, which neighbors called "The Mansion," was originally a single-family home, then had been a kind of boarding house and then vacant for some time. Neighbors are thrilled that it will be cleaned up, remodeled, and used for such a good purpose.

During a presentation at ELNA, an Ashley House board member who lives and works in Shoreline talked about the experience of having his medically fragile child released by Children's when he and his wife had little knowledge or experience about how to properly take care of him.

Ashley House purchased the property for $1.3 million. They have worked through all the zoning and permitting process and usage has been approved by City of Shoreline. They consulted with neighbors to hear concerns and incorporate solutions in the planning.

The "Mansion"
Google maps

The estimated Capital need is $3.3 million. The project total estimated cost is $5.5 million but construction bids are still pending.

The facility will serve about 45 patients annually, with an annual budget of $7 million and 40-45 full time employees, including 32 direct care staff. Medical and Program directors and project managers have been hired.

The patient care rooms are on the main floor. A basement provides parking, laundry, storage, and generator space. The upper floor will be offices, training and consultation space, and a break room.

Children’s Hospital contributed a gift of $1 million to assist in development, construction and operations. HCA is planning a special daily rate. DSHS has approved the regulatory framework. The Department of Health has granted the certificate of need.