PEF and CSEA hold speakout to oppose proposed closure of Middletown Psychiatric Center

MIDDLETOWN - PEF and CSEA held a Speakout today (3/23/2001) at the Holiday Inn in Middletown to oppose the state's proposal to close Middletown Psychiatric Center in 2004. The event featured testimonials from CSEA Statewide President Danny Donohue, CSEA and PEF officers, State Sen. William Larkin and other state and local political leaders, former Middletown Psychiatric Center clients, family members of Middletown clients, workers at the facility and community mental health advocates about why the 125-year-old facility should stay open.

PEF and CSEA, which represent most of Middletown's 420 employees, strongly oppose Gov. George Pataki's proposal to close the facility. Patients at Middletown Psychiatric Center, which serves Orange and Sullivan counties, would be forced to seek treatment for mental illnesses at Rockland Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg - located 60 miles from Middletown. A move to Rockland would severely limit the number of visits many patients get fom family members, an essential part of recovery from mental illness.

Additionally, people in Orange and Sullivan counties would lack access to long-term, mental health care in their communities. Middletown Psychiatric Center is the only facility in Orange and Sullivan counties that can routinely give long-term mental health care.

Workers at Middletown Psychiatric Center will also be harmed by a closure. Although the state has proposed to transfer Middletown employees to Rockland, many Middletown workers would be unable to afford to commute a minimum of 120 miles per day to Orangeburg. Many employees have family responsibilities, and many other workers do not drive. Additionally, there is no public transportation between Middletown and Orangeburg. Such a daily commute would be impossible for many Middletown workers.

Middletown Psychiatric Center also ranks among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the United States. The facility passed its recent accreditation process with the federal Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations with a score of 97 with no deficiencies. This score contradicts the state's main argument in favor of closing the facility - that Middletown Psychiatric Center needs $34 million in renovations to meet JCAHO standards.

"We're not just fighting about saving buildings or jobs," CSEA Statewide President Danny Donohue said. "We're fighting for sane mental health policy in New York State and for everyone who cares about that."

"As good as they are, the local hospitals could never fill the void that would be created if Middletown Psychiatric Center closes its doors," PEF Statewide President Roger Benson said. "We must not allow the Office of Mental Health to shirk its responsibility to keep all treatment options open to anyone trying to recover from mental illness."

"Our members are determined to stop the state from trying to trade high-quality therapeutic services for the mentally ill for the sake of some ingrained cost savings," PEF Regional Coordinator Neila Cardus said. "Ultimately, it will cost the state more to try to replicate at Rockland Psychiatric Center the services Middletown Psychiatric Center delivers, and it would harm patients, families and workers in the process."

"The people of Orange and Sullivan counties need - and deserve - access to long-term, quality care for mental illnesses in their own communities," CSEA Southern Region President Carmine DiBattista said. "This plan to close Middletown Psychiatric Center is unacceptable to us, and we're going to fight to keep it open."

"This proposal to close Middletown Psychiatric Center is unfair to the clients, their families, the workers and the community," CSEA Middletown Psychiatric Center Local President Diane Hewitt said. "We're speaking out today to send a strong message to Governor Pataki and New York State Office of Mental Health Commissioner James Stone that we're not going to tolerate the state's increasingly unfair policies toward people with mental illnesses."

"I am proud to be a caregiver associated with a facility that is a role model for treatment of the mentally ill," said PEF Council Leader and community mental health nurse Cindy Bartley-Horn. "Our state government should be expanding the kind of care that Middletown Psychiatric Center provides, not cutting it back."