The town of Berlin made it clear at a public meeting Wednesday that it wants the state’s new 25-bed acute care state hospital built on a seven-acre site next to Central Vermont Medical Center.
Vermont is considering two potential sites in Berlin for the hospital, which is being built as partial replacement of the 54-bed Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury after it was closed by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene last August.
Berlin officials told Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding in no uncertain terms that they oppose the state’s other proposed location, which is close to the local elementary school and is also where the town has long planned to put a town center and once considered affordable housing.
That site, near the regional library on Paine Turnpike, is larger and quieter though it also contains a wetland, said Vermont Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding, explaining its appeal to the state.
“What I see is a nicer piece of land,” Spaulding said, noting the site close to the hospital was steep and transected by a major power line.
But he told about 60 people at Berlin Elementary School he wanted to hear their views, adding, “We’re not interested in forcing our way in the town of Berlin.” He also noted the new hospital’s construction marked an important milestone in mental health care. “It’s a big decision, it’s one that’s going to last us for 20 to 40 years, it’s a big decision for you, it’s a big decision for patients,” he said.
Judging from the opinions expressed, Berlin is clearly opposed to having the state develop a key parcel the town has long eyed, also taking it off the tax rolls.
“I don’t even see why we’re discussing the other site,” said selectboard member Craig Frazier, arguing the hospital location is the only one that made sense.
“It is about location, location location, and I really can’t fathom it being over by the school,” said Patricia McDonald, a former GOP representative from Berlin and longtime town official who now chairs the Berlin Economic Development Council.
A town resident said an informal poll at town meeting found 105 people in favor of the hospital site and none in favor of the library location and selectboard member Roberta Haskin said she felt residents were “overwhelmingly” in favor of the hospital site.
The airing of views came after Spaulding, Mental Health Commissioner Patrick Flood and state buildings officials ran through the events that led the state to consider building the hospital in Berlin after the antiquated state hospital in Waterbury was closed by Irene. Several officials from the town of Waterbury also spoke to allay any fears that Berlin may have about hosting a mental health hospital.
Rep. Tom Stevens, a Democrat who represents Waterbury in the Legislature, told the gathering having the hospital in Waterbury had been an “absolutely benign” experience and the state had been a “good neighbor and partner.”
Spaulding noted that the old hospital had been decertified for years before Irene struck, costing the state a lot of federal reimbursement funds and was also in a floodplain, all factors that led Gov. Peter Shumlin to declare it would not be used again.
The Legislature this session passed a mental health overhaul that greatly expanded community care and called for three new regional acute-care mental health facilities: the 25-bed unit in Berlin, six beds at Rutland Regional Medical Center and 14 at the Brattleboro Retreat.
Berlin’s views on the hospital location mesh with testimony of many mental health professionals who say any new acute care mental health facility should be sited in or next to a medical hospital if the goal is to set up a modern clinical treatment model. During legislative testimony, they cited how mental health patients in crisis often need medical care as well and the need to provide both in any new facility.
Flood told the gathering that Berlin was going to host a hospital that was “modern, forward-looking and absolutely the best we can have.” But he said it would differ from the state hospital in that it would not have long-term patients but people in crisis who may stay for a month or two – many who would be transferred from the psychiatric ward which is operated now at the medical center.
Flood assured everyone that public safety would not be an issue with the hospital.
“This is going to be a very secure facility,” he said, not only because of the structure, he argued, but because of the training and staffing systems in place. In the last five years, the state hospital in Waterbury had only two “elopements” or escapes. One was a patient simply trying to get a cigarette, the other a patient who climbed a fence and then sat by the river where staff retrieved him, he said.
Flood added the new facility would have a 14-foot fence around its outdoor exercise yard that would be impossible to scale.
The state’s mental health commissioner said staffing would be around 75-100 people in three shifts, and the hospital would have around 50 parking spaces. All in all, he said, the hospital would be a “pretty quiet neighbor,” with only an estimated five to seven admissions a week of people facing the gamut of mental health issues, from depression to schizophrenia and suicidal ideation.
Flood said his department would set up a formal system to have monthly meetings to communicate with Berlin about any issues.
“We really do want to be the best neighbor we can be,” he said.
State Buildings architect Mike Kuhn showed schematics and site plans of the proposed building sites via Powerpoint but later admitted that the building design itself had completely changed.
“It probably won’t look anything like that,” he said.
According to Spaulding, a decision will be made soon so the state can move ahead with design and construction. He noted the state urgently needs to alleviate the continuing crisis in acute care caused by the closure of the state hospital. Still, he said at best, it would be 2014 before the new hospital was opened.
