Substance-abuse services leaving Somerville Hospital

A public hearing was held last Thursday to address the issue of closing two psychiatric units as well as the detox unit at Somerville Hospital. ~Photo by Bobbie Toner By Martin Levenson Somerville residents requiring psychiatric services, especially detox substance-abuse services, will soon have to go elsewhere in the surrounding areas of Metro Boston to receive treatment. Two psychiatric units containing the adolescent and geriatric populations, as well as the detox unit at Somerville Hospital, are slated to be closed on June 30. A public hearing held to address this issue, officiated by a special subcommittee of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health - the Division of Health Care Quality - was held at Cambridge Hospital's Macht Auditorium, Thursday April 23. The Cambridge Health Alliance's Somerville Hospital, in particular, cares for many needy people, the homeless or about to become homeless. Since many of these needy patients use Medicaid, the hospital has been steadily losing money, asserting they are not getting accurate reimbursement for their services from the federal government. So Somerville Hospital, along with the rest of the CHA hospitals, will together cut their use of Medicaid by $94 million in the coming fiscal year. "Even with these changes, CHA is one of the largest psychiatric services providers," says Allison Bayer, Chief Operating Officer of CHA, at the start of the public hearing. Faulkner Hospital and St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, according to Dennis D. Keefe, the CEO of Cambridge Health Alliance, are able to provide detox services for Somerville residents requiring it. These hospitals, however, do not accept MassHealth, which many Somerville Detox inpatients use. In all, 26 detox beds and 35 psychiatric beds are planned to be eliminated. "Reducing services is clearly the wrong way to go," says John Sharp of the regional Cambridge/Middlesex National Alliance on Mental Illness chapter. Sharp has personal experience with the effects of psychiatric disease, his son is suffering from schizoaffective disorder. He holds up a print-out of Governor Patrick's press release detailing the administration's economic recovery plan for health care and safety net services, allocating $14 million for mental health care in the Commonwealth. "I thought we'd be okay," he says. Other speakers from social action organizations came to testify. Maryanne Frangules, of Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, pressed the Mass DPH to hold off on closing the detox unit in Somerville. "Physical recovery is the first recovery - before psychological and spiritual - and that needs to happen in a detox." Frangules also mentions that eliminating and reducing services might save money now, but the cost, she argues, will be duplicated or made greater by the added use of emergency services, and will crowd emergency rooms, putting unnecessary pressure on doctors and nurses. "We should be looking to make things easier; not harder," says Lee Polk, a recovering alcoholic. The hearing became heated when Lawrence Paolella, a Somerville resident and recovering addict, talked directly to the three person panel from the Mass DPH, instead of, like others, who addressed the crowd in the auditorium. He hotly asked the panel, "Are we just whistling in the wind?" inquiring if all the testimonies the committee heard that day would matter in the ultimate decision to reduce and/or eliminate care. Paolella was able to get the committee's Chair, Paul Dryer, to respond. "Our purpose here is to listen to you folks," Dryer commented, also adding that neither he nor his committee has the authority to stop the reconfiguration plans already put in process by CHA. That would take persons above Dryer in the Mass DPH and ultimately the Governor himself. Dryer did say, however, that Paolella was on a good start. Many people from Somerville will be without their supports. Stephanie Grace, a young Somervillian with addiction problems, testified about her positive experience with Somerville Detox. She comments that the detox got her off the streets and cleaned up and helped her to get a steady full time job where she proudly states, she does pays taxes. "And the only reason I can do this today is because I got my start at Somerville Detox. Please don't close it."

Comments

[francine]

Thank you so much for posting this. I am researching this topic for a private matter and this is very helpful and informative.

[adolescent drug treatment]

Substance abuse is something we need to focus on,thanks for the post.

-mj-