Gov. Tom Wolf closing residential mental health facilities, 734 workers to be impacted, in budget...

[TexasTowelie]

Gov. Tom Wolf closing residential mental health facilities, 734 workers to be impacted, in budget crunch

Five days after announcing he'd close two prisons amid a $1.7 billion budget deficit, Gov. Tom Wolf plans to shutter residential mental health facilities.

Department of Human Services Secretary Ted Dallas said Wednesday his agency would close Hamburg State Center in Berks County. It houses 80 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities on a 154-acre campus about 30 miles west of Allentown.

DHS also would close the 122-patient civil confinement wing of Norristown State Hospital in Montgomery County. Norristown's civilly committed patients come directly from hospitals' inpatient units. Those type of patients would be transitioned into community homes over the next two years under the DHS plan.

"Individuals experience a better quality of life when they receive care and support in their homes and in their communities, when possible," Dallas said. "Today's announcement means we are expanding opportunities for residents to live their lives to the fullest by returning to their homes and communities as contributing members of society."

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-wolf-closing-state-hospitals-20170112-story.html

[shraby]

1. What do they want to do with the 154 acre campus? That's the real question that should be

asked.
That's a large chunk of real estate.

[femmocrat]

2. Let's hope those patients do receive adequate care in their communities.

Unlike when Reagan threw mental patients out into the streets. (I don't know if that is 100% accurate, I'm just being snarky.)

[Freddie]

3. PA seems to have a good system of community care and group homes

My best friend works for one of them as a group home supervisor for adult men with intellectual disabilities. Very highly regulated, tons of oversight. Biggest problem is those jobs pay awful and there lots of turnover.

[TexasTowelie]

4. When my parents were living in Brenham and the neighbors sold their house

it became a group home for up to four women and usually one caretaker. One of the women would occasionally go outside to the swing set, but they didn't interact with the rest of the neighbors. I would occasionally take over some fruit if we bought more than we could eat or if the electricity went out. The most significant impact that I experienced is when the van would pick the women up because it made loud beeping noises when it was in reverse.

I don't know if the women had jobs since their disabilities. I believe that they spent most of their time at the state hospital grounds for recreation activities and observation.

[WhiteTara]

5. Shades of Ronnie Raygun

and now these people will be on street corners begging for money for food and self medicating drugs. Repukes are inhumane.

[Freddie]

6. Doubt it in PA

Most of the state hospitals have closed over the years and the people have been absorbed into the community/group homes setting. Yes we have homeless mentally ill but (sadly) many of those folks refuse to cooperate with "the system" or do not have families advocating for them.
Many years ago one of the worst state hospitals (Pennhurst in Philly) closed and there was a huge lawsuit which resulted in the good (IMO) network of agencies caring for the mentally ill and intellectually disabled in community settings. Of course one Repug governor could end all that someday.

[WhiteTara]

7. Isn't Wolf the gov of PA?

[Freddie]

8. Yes thank God

I meant to say it would take one Repug giv to undo all this.

[DeminPennswoods]

9. State's also going to managed care system

Where there will be 1 entity responsible for coordinating care for an individual. The state is trying to figure out the best way to keep people from falling through the medical and social services cracks.

[PRETZEL]

10. That initiative has been pushed back 6 months

we still can't seem to get any indication on how agencies are going to interact with the MCO's.

As for the topic at hand, Norristown State is about half a mile away. Some of the discussion I've heard is of what to do with the long term residents who need institutional care. Also, a big discussion is where to place these individuals. There isn't enough housing options available.

[DeminPennswoods]

11. I know it's a complex task

I'm not surprised implementation has been pushed back.