Vermont Governor Jim Douglas endorsed a plan on Feb. 18 to open a psychiatric facility at the White River Junction Veterans Hospital operated by the Dartmouth Medical School. The Vermont State Hospital Futures Master Plan, which was presented to a joint meeting of several state Senate and House committees Feb. 19, recommends three new facilities that would be opened by 2012 to replace the outdated Vermont State Hospital facilities by 2014.
Vermont Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hartman and Deputy Commissioner of Mental Health Beth Tanzman presented the plan to a joint meeting of three House committees Human Services, Appropriations, and Corrections and Institutions and three Senate committees Institutions, Appropriations, and Health and Welfare, the Vermont Council of Developmental and Mental Health Services web site said.
The plan was prepared by the Vermont State Hospital Futures Advisory Group, according to the Council web site.
Under the terms of the plan, Vermont would open three psychiatric units in Waterbury, Rutland and White River Junction instead of renovating the Vermont State Hospital facility, which is operated by the Department of Mental Health. The Futures group and various citizen committees decided to open multiple, integrated-care settings instead of a stand-alone facility after five years of discussion, according to the Council web site.
DMS would operate the White River Junction facility, a 33-bed psychiatric facility on federally donated property adjacent to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, according to the Department of Mental Health web site. The "considerable experience" DMS has in providing care for psychiatric patients and overseeing and executing mental health and addictions services was one of the reasons the Futures Group chose the White River Junction site as a potential location, according to the plan published by the Department of Mental Health.
"The State of Vermont through the Department of Mental Health approached [Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center] and DMS, mostly the Department of Psychiatry, about a patient population that is in need of a higher standard of care," Frank McDougall, DHMC governmental relations director, said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
The White River Junction "Center of Excellence" facility would include a neuropsychiatric unit and an intensive psychiatric inpatient program, according to the plan.
The plan also proposed a sleep disorder study program to strengthen the intensive psychiatric care available.
Representatives from DMS, including McDougall and psychiatry department chair Alan Green, have met with officials from the White River Junction VAMC and the Vermont Department of Mental Health to develop a plan that is consistent with the DMS mission, McDougall said.
McDougall said the proposed funding mechanism is a potentially controversial part of the plan.
The Futures Group recommended dedicating $61.4 million of one-time funds from the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act towards the capital costs of securing residential and inpatient facilities, according to the plan. These funds depend on congressional approval of a six-month extension of higher federal match rates for Medicaid funds, McDougall said.
If the legislature approves the plan, there are still significant legislative tasks and coordination efforts to undertake, McDougall said.
"If the [Vermont] legislature is supportive of the Department of Mental Health's plan, then it will use seed money to hire consultants to work with representatives at the various sites," McDougall said.
The master plan will follow a community-based care model by merging mental health with general health care, the release said. In addition to the White River Junction facility, the plan calls for a state-operated, 15-bed secure rehabilitation unit in Waterbury and a 12-bed inpatient care facility at Rutland Regional Medical Center, according to the Department of Mental Health web site.
The design and construction costs are estimated at $61.4 million with approximately $33 million appropriated to the Veteran's Hospital site, according to the plan.
The White River Junction facility would be operational by April 2014, coinciding with the closing of the Vermont State Hospital, according to the Futures plan.
The plan must be approved by the joint committee before it comes to a vote in the state legislature.
