Retreat has role in health care plan

By HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN, Reformer Staff

BRATTLEBORO -- The Brattleboro Retreat is in line to become one of two satellite, mental health centers as part of a proposal to replace the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury, according to a plan endorsed by a legislative panel this week.

The Mental Health Oversight Committee, which has been working to close the Waterbury facility and improve the state's care of mentally ill patients, approved the plan Wednesday.

Under the proposal the Retreat would care for between six and 10 state patients.

The Department of Health wants to build a 32-bed mental health hospital on the Fletcher Allen campus in Burlington, but that is at least three years away.

The Retreat could be accepting state patients this year, according to Retreat spokeswoman Maria Basescu.

"The Retreat is involved and we are willing to be a part of this as the plan moves forward," Basescu said.

Under the Vermont Mental Health Futures Plan, the Retreat would become one of two satellite sites that treat the state's most severe cases of mental illness.

The other satellite site is proposed for Rutland Regional Medical Center.

Charles Smith, the former secretary of Human Services, first presented the ambitious plan to transform how the state cares for the mentally ill: moving them out of the centralized spot in Waterbury and offering treatment on different levels at a number of different facilities around the state.

Along with the proposed Burlington hospital and the two satellite sites, the plan that was endorsed this week the state would:

Develop two community-based facilities for people who don't need to be hospitalized, but need rehabilitation before going home;
Create a six-bed, locked facility for people in stable condition who can't be released because of legal prohibitions;
Add 10 new crisis beds to the 19 in place now at community mental health agencies around the state;
Adopt a new system of coordinated care to link the state's different types of treatment;
Support affordable housing for people with mental illness who are able to live in the community.

Rep. Michael Fisher, D-Lincoln and the oversight committee's chairman, said, "I feel willing to support this as a plan of where we should be going but I'm concerned with whether we will live up to it."

Officials involved with the project have been frustrated with how slow it is progressing.

The Department of Mental Health learned recently that the Burlington plan is going to require a certificate of need from the Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration. The certificate of need process could add months, or years, to the already delayed timetable.

"We are in negotiations with BISHCA about what the process is," said Beth Tanzman, director of the Futures Project for the Division of Mental Health.

Sen. James Leddy, D-Chittenden, chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and an oversight committee member, said he wished more progress had been made since Smith laid out his vision for mental health.

"I'm discouraged how far we have to go to make this a reality," Leddy said.

The oversight committee Wednesday also approved a study that will look at all of the proposed sites and determine what the construction plans and costs might look like.

Basescu said the Retreat will most likely be able to provide the new state beds without major construction, but she said the statewide study will determine what the current and future needs are in caring for the mentally ill in Vermont.

"The statewide assessment will look at what those needs might be in 10 years and that could have an influence on the Retreat," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Article Published: Saturday, March 25, 2006