After a week of turmoil at the Brattleboro Retreat, Gov. Phil Scott and Agency of Human Services officials offered assurances that they would not stand by and let the state’s largest mental health facility close.
“This health care provider is simply too critical for us to let fail, especially without an alternative. This would have a devastating impact on our mental health system and the region’s economy,” Scott said at his Thursday State of the State speech. The administration will “do everything we can responsibly do to help.”
After meeting with the Brattleboro Retreat executive committee Wednesday, Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health Sarah Squirrel said that she was optimistic.
“We’re really encouraged that we’re not facing an imminent closure,” she said. “We still need to attend to the short-term needs of the Retreat.”
The endorsement ensures at least the short-term survival of the Retreat after CEO and President Louis Josephson said last week that the hospital may need to close or be sold because of financial woes. The Retreat has agreed to hire an independent financial consultant as well as conduct an internal examination.
The conciliatory position reflects a tempering of the rhetoric after a public standoff between Josephson and Agency of Human Services Secretary Mike Smith last weekend.
Josephson presented Smith with the Retreat’s faltering finances and asked for help. The hospital has about 30 days cash on hand, he said.
“We’re like many of our employees living paycheck to paycheck, and hoping the boiler doesn’t go boom this winter, because we won’t be able to cover it,” Josephson told the House Health Care Committee Wednesday.
Smith said the state had already stepped in. The state had put in a total of $16 million in the form of rate increases and funding for new facilities within the past year.
Before the state is willing to give the Retreat an additional $2 million in Medicaid funds, Smith said he “wanted a clear picture of the financial future.”
“There seemed to be this general perception that we’re an endless piggy bank. That’s not the way I see how we do things,” Smith said.
After the hearing Wednesday, the two sides met and hammered out four next steps. The Retreat will hire an outside firm to review its finances and develop a management plan. The leadership will meet weekly with the Agency of Human Services. It also agreed to evaluate outpatient services for efficiencies and improve its admissions process to boost patient numbers.
Josephson said he also would consider downsizing the facility or even resigning, if necessary.
Rep. Laura Sibilia, I-Dover, decried the public negotiation between Smith and Josephson, and said she was encouraged by the progress.
“Playing a public game of chicken is not responsible,” she said.
Sibilia was one a group of lawmakers from Windham County who sent a letter urging the state to support the Retreat. Scott’s comments “were much more in line with what I’d expect given the seriousness of the situation,” she said.
House Health Care Committee chair Rep. Bill Lippert also highlighted the high stakes. To let the Retreat close would be “catastrophic,” he said.
