Letter-writer: Make judicious cuts without eliminating entire programs
Editor’s note: This open letter to Agency of Human Resources Sec. Robert Hofmann is from Curtis Sinclair, the coordinator for the canteen at the Vermont State Hospital. It was also sent to Gov. James Douglas.
Hello Secretary Hofmann,
I am writing to you and the Governor’s office directly because an important program at the Vermont State Hospital is being cut for no good reason. I run this program, the hospital’s Canteen. After I took over the running of the Canteen in 2002 I was able to cut costs and increase revenues to the point where it broke even. That is important to know. This canteen can be a totally self sustaining operation that does not cost the taxpayers of Vermont any money while providing a valuable service to the patients at VSH.
I realize the philosophy at this time seems to be cuts to positions, but I don’t see how you can take something away from Vermont’s most needy and sick people. The patients at VSH have lost their library and gym over the years. They also lost another area they called the “hideaway” where they could meet in the evening to socialize and even play pool. Now there are losing the last common meeting area where they can relax and socialize.
I can speak from my own personal experience with being a patient at VSH. Time spent in the Canteen feels like freedom. It is the one place a patient can go and not feel like he is locked up in a restrictive psychiatric facility. Patients at VSH should not be treated like prisoners. They deserve and need time to relax.
The Canteen is also an invaluable vocational rehabilitation and occupational therapy tool, especially for those who are stuck in VSH for a long period. I was in that situation years ago, fighting for my right not to be medicated. I was allowed to work in the Canteen as a patient for most of my two year incarceration. That did more to help me that anything else. It also allowed me to prove that I could function without being medicated. In the end I was able to win that battle and get discharged without being drugged against my will. If it had not been for the Canteen program I might be on disability. We have had other VSH patients in the years since then who have benefited greatly from working at the Canteen. Please don’t take this program away from them.
If you need to cut positions it is possible to make judicious cuts without eliminating entire programs. The Canteen could easily function with one less full time worker. Why cut three positions and lose a valuable asset when you can cut one and save that asset? I’m sure two cuts can be found in other areas without eliminating services for Vermont’s most vulnerable people.
Sincerely,
Curtis Sinclair
Canteen coordinator
