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The transformation of Vermont s mental health system and thecontinuing fallout of the closure of the Vermont State Hospital byTropical Storm Irene brought news on several fronts Tuesday in abusy day inside and outside the Vermont Statehouse. Anne Noonan, commissioner at the Department of Labor, Vermont StateTreasurer Beth Pearce and Human Resources Commissioner Kate Duffydetailed for lawmakers an array of efforts, including plans for aretirement incentive, to ease the situation for former statehospital employees facing layoffs and an uncertain future. Meanwhile, three lawmakers each from the House and Senate beganworking out differences on a complex bill that dramatically shiftsmental health treatment in the state to a more community basedmodel while downsizing and partially privatizing the number ofacute care hospital beds. In Morrisville, Lamoille Community Connections has given apreliminary green light to a temporary plan by the state to houseand treat eight acute care patients in space at their headquarters,which is the regional mental health agency. The decision offershope for an interim solution to a severe crisis in acute care inthe state. And based on testimony by Mental Health Commissioner Patrick FloodTuesday afternoon, it appears likely the state will settle on a10-room building in Windsor at the Southeast State CorrectionalFacility as a secure site for five to 10 forensic patients whohave been ordered held by the courts. The state has been evaluatingnumerous locales for patients sent into the system by the courts. Those developments highlight the state s continuing struggle todeal with the flooding closure of the state hospital in Waterbury,whose 54 intensive care beds were a critical piece of mental healthtreatment despite an antiquated building and loss of federalfunding nearly a decade ago. The discussions about the layoffs of state hospital workers and thenews that the Lamoille facility may go along with a controversialplan to house eight patients at its headquarters in the formerGenesis nursing home illustrates the yin and yang of intertwinedissues that has beset the state since Irene hit Aug. 28. Anne Noonan, commissioner of the Department of Labor, toldlawmakers that the state has several million dollars in differentfunding pools that can be used to assist former state hospitalworkers in job searches, retraining and education or to boost theircertification for jobs in the new mental health system so they are more marketable and employable. Noonan assured lawmakers that state workers who take another joboutside state government will remain eligible to get a first crackat state jobs as the new mental health treatment system is built ifthey keep the state informed of their interest. Lawmakers asked Pearce, the state treasurer and Duffy to providefiscal information that will enable lawmakers to add a voluntaryretirement incentive in the mental health bill. With the 960 stateemployees cutback in 2009, the incentive was available to employees55 or older with 20 years in service, according to Pearce. According to figures given to the committee, 20 VSH employees haveover 25 years of service, and many have five or less. Sen. Peg Flory, R-Rutland, said she was concerned that when thestate finally opens its new mental health hospital in Berlin, manyhighly qualified state workers will have left the field andstaffing will be an issue. I think we ll do what we have to do to make sure that facilityis properly staffed, said Duffy. Lamoille Community Connections Board President Ed French Jr. saidthe board unanimously agreed Monday night to consider the state sproposal, subject to reaching an agreement that addresses a numberof concerns raised by the community. The board will meet again nextWednesday in a public hearing to discuss the plans, he said. The state has been desperately searching for more beds for Level Iintensive care and run into numerous dead ends before theMorrisville facility came on the horizon. Last month astanding-room only crowd debated the merits of the proposal withheated arguments on both sides. Eventually as many as 15 patientscould be treated at the site under the state s plan to lease twowings of the building. Vermonters needing intensive mental health care are currentlycrowding wards at major hospitals around the state, creating acascading shortage of beds for many levels of treatment andwreaking havoc in facilities not set up to deal with acute carepatients. If a portion of the Lamoille facility eventually is renovated andopened, it will provide some good news for former state hospitalemployees by providing them job opportunities as many as 70 jobsmay be created at the facility for 24-hour care. Appearing before the Senate Government Operations Committee in theafternoon, Duffy, the state s human resources commissioner, saidof the roughly 240 state hospital employees working when Irene hit,195 were on the payroll in December of last year, working at anumber of replacement facilities. Now, 74 of those have formallybeen notified they face a RIF (reduction in force) and will losetheir jobs at the end of March, she said. That number is slightly less than originally announced a couple ofweeks ago. If their qualifications fit other state jobs they may beable to bump other employees with less seniority, she said. Shesaid the majority of those former VSH employees are at BrattleboroRetreat, the state correctional facility at Springfield and a fewother locations. She said a potentially bigger layoff is possible in April withformer VSH employees who are working at Fletcher Allen Health Carein Burlington. She called the situation for the former state hospital workers very fluid. They still have anxiety and concern about what s going tohappen, she said, noting it will be months before the state can retrofit the Morrisville facility and at least several yearsbefore a replacement state hospital being proposed in Berlin nearCentral Vermont Medical Center is built. House and Senate conferees began work Tuesday to reach agreement onthe mental health transformation bill passed by both chambers. Thesize of the Berlin facility is a main bone of contention, with theHouse proposing 25 beds and the Senate 16, which is the numberfavored by Gov. Peter Shumlin s administration. Duffy said officials have been very clear in discussions withmental health workers about uncertainty with the jobs in the newhospital facility. But she said one thing is clear: There scertainly not going to be the same level of staffing that we haveright now, she said. However, Duffy said private hospitals that are targeted to becomepart of the new mental health system have expressed clearly tous they are interested in the former VSH employees. But she saida number of factors such as the location of the jobs and pay andthe individual s training will impact how many sign on. I am an expert from spunbond-nonwoven.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Long Handle Shoe Horn Manufacturer , Medical Nonwovens Manufacturer, Polypropylene Non Woven Fabric,and more.
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