New York State is proposing an allocation of $72 million to establish community hubs to replace the mental-health hospitals that are set to close in the Southern Tier. According to the Office of Mental Health, the money would be used to expand community services and save the jobs that are at risk when the hospitals are proposed to be shut down next year. The state is looking to consolidate its 24 mental health hospitals into 15 regional centers over the course of the next three years, and with the new proposal from the state, hundreds of jobs could be saved. Legislators from the Southern Tier have been fighting to keep the Greater Binghamton Health Center, the Broome Developmental Center, and the Elmira Psychiatric Center open ever since the state announced its plans to shut down the locations. Senator Tom Libous introduced legislation last month in the Senate that would postpone the closures until at least April of 2015. The state’s original consolidation plan would result in the closest regional centers for Southern Tier mental health patients and their families being Syracuse or Utica, with other centers in Albany, Rockland County, and downstate. The children’s inpatient unit in Binghamton would be moved to Utica. The latest proposal from the state would provide help to 7,000 patients through community services.
