Providence Regional Medical Center Everett will close the only autism-specific bridging program in Washington state on Oct. 30, cutting nine jobs and displacing 12 children who rely on the therapy while they wait for longer-term care.

The Bridging Program, housed at the Providence Boyden Family Autism Center on Everett's Pacific campus since 2021, provides up to one year of individualized applied behavior analysis therapy to children ages 2 to 5 who have graduated from the center's 12-week intensive day treatment program. Providence Swedish North Puget Sound CEO Kristy Carrington told the Everett Herald on Wednesday, Aug. 12, that the program consumes 70% of the autism center's operating resources, and keeping it open threatened the center's ability to serve the 390 children per year who use its other services.

"If we didn't change anything, what we were in fact doing was placing the entire autism program at risk," Carrington said.

Providence Swedish cited federal reductions to Medicare and Medicaid funding and delayed insurance reimbursements as the financial pressures behind the decision. The health system is also separately negotiating commercial reimbursement rates with Cigna, with that contract set to expire Sept. 1.

Carrington, who has led Providence Swedish North Puget Sound since 2022 and is set to become CEO of Providence's broader North Division on Aug. 24, said Providence launched the Bridging Program in 2021 after observing children going without treatment once they graduated from the 12-week intensive program and landed on waitlists for community or school-based care.

Of the 12 children currently enrolled, four are expected to graduate before the Oct. 30 closure. The remaining eight families were notified Wednesday, Aug. 12, and will receive individualized transition plans. The program's maximum capacity is 20 children.

Nine caregivers will lose their positions. Providence said it will provide affected employees with a list of internal job openings they are eligible for.

Alex Lundy, vice president of programs at Wonderland Child & Family Services, a Shoreline-based nonprofit serving more than 250 families per month in north King and south Snohomish counties, said she has seen multiple children's services close due to decreased reimbursement rates and government funding cuts. Lundy called early childhood a critical window for children with autism, warning that longer waits for services can harm children's long-term development.

No replacement program or legislative response has been announced. The autism center's Diagnostic Clinic and 12-week intensive day treatment program will continue operating at 900 Pacific Ave., Suite 100.