Post by Logan on Jan 19, 2017 8:29:46 GMT -6
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: www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-wolf-closing-state-hospitals-20170112-story.html
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: www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-wolf-closing-state-hospitals-20170112-story.html