TAUNTON STATE HOSPITAL: Resolution aims to stop closing
Hospital set to close Dec. 31; rally to oppose closing set for March 22
TRI-TOWNS —
A resolution is being circulated to stop the Patrick-Murray Administration’s move to close Taunton State Hospital, a move which many believe would put communities and patients in peril. A rally is being organized to stop the cost-consolidating move.
State Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, and other public officials are lobbying to stop the closing of the facility, which houses some of the most criminally dangerous mentally ill, as well as people in mental health crisis. Pacheco’s legislative district, the First Plymouth and Bristol District, includes Marion and Wareham. Pacheco has sent a letter to every city and town in Southeastern Massachusetts explaining the situation and asking them to support efforts to keep the facility open. Wareham and Fall River officials have expressed their support of the resolution.
The closing of Taunton State Hospital is scheduled to taken place Dec. 31.
“Should this action be taken it would have a devastating effect on our very fragile Southeastern Massachusetts mental health system,” Pacheco said in a Feb 2 letter to Rochester Selectmen in an effort to garner the town’s support to stop the closure. “In addition to placing further stress on the statewide system, this proposal will leave the South Shore, Cape Cod and Islands region in an extremely dangerous predictament.”
Pacheco and House Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad, D-Somerset, have scheduled a rally to oppose the proposed closing. The rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, March 22, in the Gardner Auditorium at the State House in Boston. In addition to other legislators, speakers from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental health advocacy organizations, state labor leaders, consumer organizations, mental health patients, their families are expected to attend.
“We are going to send a message to our colleagues in the Legislature and to the Administration that our mental health system is already fragile. Closing Taunton State Hospital will have a dangerous impact and we will not allow it,” Pacheco said.
Haddad said the closure is not just about the bottom line.
“There are issues here greater than closing a facility in Taunton,” Haddad said. “This is about servicing patients and their families from communities south of Boston. Residents from Southeastern Massachusetts, the Cape and Islands should not be sacrificed in order to fill beds in a facility halfway across the state.”
The Patrick-Murray Administration announced Jan. 24 that Taunton State Hospital, a state mental health facility, will officially close Dec. 31. The opening of Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital, a state-of-the-art facility, is scheduled for this summer. In developing the plan for the new facility in Worcester, the state Department of Mental Health (DMH), which operates Taunton State Hospital, realigned the distribution of its continuing care inpatient beds and identified an operating budget to make the new facility possible.
“We understand that this announcement will impact the community of Taunton,” Gov. Patrick said on the state Dept. of Mental Health website. “By closing the Taunton facility, we are maintaining this administration’s commitment to Community First, while preserving all of the facility’s employment opportunities. We look forward to working collaboratively with the city during the implementation of this transfer and closure plan.”
“In order for a comprehesive community-based mental health system to work, the Commonwealth needs to have an appropriate capacity of inpatient beds to meet the critical needs of the community,” Pacheco said. “Continuing to have a shortage of inpatient beds puts people’s lives at risk and endangers the effectiveness of the mental health system. It also puts an increased strain on local services, as well as hospitals and emergency rooms that are not adequately equipped to treat mental health patients in crisis.”
As part of the closure of Taunton State Hospital, 124 of Taunton State’s inpatient beds will be consolidated into the new Worcester facility. An additional 45 beds will be transferred to Tewksbury Hospital, according to the state DMH. As a result of this realignment, the total number of inpatient beds will be maintained at 626, DMH’s current capacity. There are currently 410 employees at Taunton State Hospital and 426 employees at Worcester State Hospital, the existing facility is slated to close in July, all of whom will have job opportunities at the new Worcester facility, state officials said.
The closure of Taunton State will not result in a reduction in workforce on the Taunton State Hospital campus, officials said. DMH operates several residences for DMH patients, they said.
“We remain deeply committed to Community First,” State Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. JudyAnn Bigby said. “For that reason, this closure promotes our shift away from antiquated institutional facilities across healthcare settings toward an environment that emphasizes community supports for patients instead.”
Under the plan, patient transitions from Taunton State Hospital will occur in phases throughout the closure process. Patients will have choices, including transfer and discharge where appropriate, and family members will be involved as requested by patients. A clinician will work very closely with the patients throughout the decision making proces, according to DMF officials. All patients will be transitioned from Taunton by the closing date of Dec. 31, according to DMH.
For more information about the proposed closure or the rally, contact Pacheco’s office at 617.722.1551 or Haddad’s office at 617.722.2600.
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