Very interesting article by VTDigger’s Morgan True, which will get buried under today’s good news about Vermont Health Connect. The story details a plan to build a 16-bed secure inpatient facility for the severely mentally ill.

This specific plan comes from Northeast Kingdom Human Services, which proposes the hospital as part of a multipurpose “social service campus” in the distant hamlet of Bloomfield, pop. 262. How distant? It’s more than an hour northeast of Saint Johnsbury.

That seems like a bad idea for a number of reasons. It’s awfully far away from any sizeable hospital; proximity to a full-scale medical center is considered prudent for a secure inpatient facility. It’s a hell of a drive for the vast majority of those wanting to visit a patient. And there’s the problem of attracting qualified staff to such a remote locale.

This may be nothing more than a fever dream by NKHS; the state is nosing around for a new facility but has made no commitments to the Kingdom. But it does point out something I hadn’t realized: the administration is again looking to expand the system because it is still overstressed.

It’s almost a year since the new hospital in Berlin opened its doors, and there are still severely mentally ill patients waiting in emergency rooms for days at a time because there aren’t enough secure beds. And the state faces a looming, if somewhat unofficial, deadline to close a “temporary” seven-bed facility in Middlesex by 2018. Continue reading →