Officials say progress being made on State Hospital replacement

Print More
MP3

(Host) State officials hope that regional hospitals and a new state institution will ultimately replace the Vermont state hospital in Waterbury.

Vermont has been under pressure for years to close its century-old mental health facility. But finding a solution has been difficult and expensive.

VPR’s John Dillon reports:

(Dillon) The state hospital in Waterbury first lost its federal funding six years ago. And since then the Legislature and the Douglas Administration have struggled to close the aging facility.

The pressure increased again this spring when the federal government once again refused to certify the facility or pay for care at the hospital.

The Department of Mental Health have moved ahead on a two-part solution. One involves a proposal for a new 15-bed secure facility – probably in Waterbury. The other part involves regional hospitals expanding psychiatric care.

Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hartman told a legislative oversight committee that the state is making progress with the hospitals.

(Hartman) "We should be able to come up with a plan by November which will address the concerns that the Legislature has. I can’t tell you that the time lines in the plan are that by 2011 on January 3rd there will be buildings, etc. But some hospitals have deemed it necessary in their commitment to doing care to come forward and express their commitment in being engaged in this."

(Dillon) The Rutland Regional Medical Center wants to be part of the solution. But finances may be an obstacle. Hospital President Thomas Huebner told the committee that a new 25-bed psychiatric care facility could cost about $25 million.

Huebener says the hospital will probably set up a new non-profit to borrow money for the project. He says he needs a promise that the state will help pay for patients there.

(Huebner) "So we need to have that very thought through and have a reasonable assurance – there’s no perfect guarantee we get – a reasonable assurance of a revenue stream sufficient to pay that debt over a 20- to 30-year amortization schedule."

(Dillon) The Springfield Hospital and the Brattleboro Retreat may also be part of the regional mental health network that replaces the state hospital.

But even with these plans taking shape, the state hospital won’t be closed any time soon. Lincoln Democrat Michael Fisher chairs the mental health oversight committee.

(Fisher) "We don’t have in front of us a plan that moves every single patient out of the state hospital within a reasonable time period. So the measure that I ask myself is, is the step that’s being proposed a reasonable step, does it move a set of people out of the state hospital to a more appropriate setting? And I think there are some steps in front of us that make sense to me."

(Dillon) As the Department of Mental Health works with hospitals, it’s also developing its own plans for a new secure facility that would accommodate patients who can’t yet move back to the community.

For VPR News, I’m John Dillon in Montpelier.

Comments are closed.