Lawmakers unhappy as N.C. mental health reform moving in fits
Monday, October 31st, 2005
By Chris Fitzsimon
By GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. — When lawmakers dramatically overhauled the state’s mental health system in 2001, they envisioned a change that within six years would move care out of state institutions and into programs where patients could receive care in their own communities.
But with a goal of implementing the changes by mid-2007 looming, there’s a great deal of frustration among legislators, patient advocates and local providers. Efforts to reduce the number of patients in the state psychiatric hospitals have been interrupted, while the local programs that oversee community coverage are facing potential spending cuts at a time when many are struggling to meet the needs of the medically needy.
"It’s certainly not where I expected it to be at this point," said Rep. Beverly Earle, D-Mecklenburg, a co-chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee. "There seems to be one major issue after another."
The 2001 plan calls for the number of beds at traditional state mental hospitals to drop by nearly half to 938 by mid-2007, with patients shifted to local treatment programs. That process involves closing two state psychiatric hospitals - Dix in Raleigh and Umstead in Butner - and replacing them with one hospital in Granville County. (more…)
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