HHS Secretary Benton makes announcement

Secretary Benton held a press conference today and stated that Dix & Umstead Hospital closings would be delayed 60 days (see the video and article on WRAL.com

Below is an article from N&O and the press release from the Secretary's office:

N&O:
Dix to remain open 2 months longer By Michael Biesecker and Lynn Bonner, Staff Writers RALEIGH - Two state mental hospitals set to close in March will stay open at least two more months while an expert team examines problems with the hospital built to replace them.
The replacement hospital, Central Regional in Butner, has numerous patient hazards built in that could be expensive to fix.
Dempsey Benton, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, extended the lives of the two older hospitals, Dorothea Dix in Raleigh and John Umstead Hospital in Butner, until the state is sure the new hospital is safe for patients.
"Every dollar wasted is cheating the folks who count on us and the taxpayers," Benton said at a press conference this afternoon. "We have to restore the public's faith in our facilities, and in the actions today being announced I will try to do that."
In a news release sent out as the press conference began, DHHS said Benton will move the state-operated services section out of the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services to report directly to him. This section is responsible for day-to-day direction of all 14 of the state's public mental health facilities.
An advisory group will make sure the new hospital is safe and can provide effective care. Another group will look at ways to make communities better able to treat patients with mental health crises locally rather than ship them to state hospitals.
A third work group will review hospital management and operations, including protocols for violence and for placement of restraints, and administrative guidelines that can be consistently implemented throughout the state hospital system, the release said.
"I think it is welcome to engage experts and stakeholders in this discussion," said Dr. Marvin Swartz, a professor of social and community psychiatry at Duke University. Swartz was appointed to serve on two of the panels.
The agency will also launch a new Web site by the end of the month to help people better understand how the facilities operate, the release said. It will be accessible at http://www.ncdhhs.gov. It will include admissions and discharge data, as well as information about staff and patient injuries and patient deaths.
Legislators with an interest in mental health have pressured Benton and his department to keep Dix open because the replacement hospital is too small and because other hospitals in the state system, which would get more patients when Dix and Umstead close, have been cited by investigators for questionable care.
michael.biesecker@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4698

Link to Secretary's press release:

http://www.ncdhhs.gov/pressrel/01-03-08.htm

NASW-NC also participated in an interview with NBC-17. This interview discussed the implications of reform and of the hospital closures.