Plan to diminish services for Utica’s mentally ill prompts rally, raises questions
Story and photos By DEBORAH A. MILES Diane Hunt, a former patient at Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center (MVPC) in Utica, stood in the vestibule of the State Office Building on Genesee Street. Outside, an unusually cold wind blew under grey skies, as PEF and members from the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) gathered for a rally April 27. They were there to protest the governor’s and
HUNT
state Office of Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hogan’s plan to diminish services at MVPC. Hunt joined the protesters as they
marched and blew whistles. She carried a homemade sign, braved the gusty winds, and drummed up the strength to tell TV reporters why she was there. “I was a patient at MVPC five years ago,”
Hunt began. “The closing of inpatient services would be tragic. At one point, my medications had to be changed because my kidneys were failing. If I would have a future problem, I would have to go to Hutchings Psychiatric Center in Syracuse.” There is more at stake for Hunt than
her physical and mental well being. Her husband, Fred, whom she has been married to for 11 years and called them the best years of her life, is at MVPC. The plan to close the adult inpatient
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ward at MVPC would require Fred to be transferred to Syracuse and continue treatment with a new team. “This plan is breaking up a lot of
families. I know others, who are like me, unable to drive an hour to Syracuse,” Hunt said. “I would only be able to see my husband occasionally, and that’s not enough.”
The bigger picture “This rally brings to light not only the
closures and shifting of services at MVPC, plus the loss of 140 jobs, but the need to focus on the bigger picture,” said PEF Vice President Pat Baker, the union’s long- standing advocate for the state’s mentally ill.
“This decision is just wrong,” Baker
shouted to a roaring crowd. “What will happen to individuals who fall through the cracks and are not relocated? It doesn’t make any sense for the state to keep trying to close facilities where they are needed, appreciated and save jobs.” Jeanette St. Mary, the
PEF council leader at MVPC and an intensive case manager, said, “We don’t feel it is fair to the patients or their families to take on the extra burden of going to an unfamiliar community and travel up to 90 miles to visit their loved ones. “We have to raise
prudent or fiscally sound,” she said.
Governor, what savings? State Sen. Joseph Griffo and Assembly
Member Anthony Brandisi both addressed the crowd and said the loss of jobs in Utica must stop. They also said the state has not told them what savings would be realized from the governor’s and commissioner’s plan. PEF President Ken Brynien and Vice
President Tom Comanzo echoed those sentiments and applauded all those who came to the rally, while motorists passing in front of the State Office Building honked their horns in support. PEF Region 6 Coordinator Kevin Conley
said the state announced the transfer or release of MVPC patients by May 7. “Clearly, the state does not have the
best interest of these individuals in mind,” Conley said. “The bottom line is many of these
patients have already exhausted community placement because of their behavior, or illnesses, or both. They require an inpatient level of care,” St. Mary added. “They won’t be able to sustain themselves in any outpatient community setting.” As the speakers took the bullhorn, one
ST. MARY statewide awareness that this plan is not PEF Information Line: 1-800-553-2445
by one, Hunt was in the front row, proudly holding her sign and waving a “clacker” in support of the patients, especially her husband. “We have to get this decision reversed,”
she said.
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