As Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital closes, concern grows over fate of frail patients
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As Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital closes, concern grows over fate of frail patients was created by Vacant NJ
As Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital closes, concern grows over fate of frail patients
Published: Sunday, June 10, 2012, 7:00 AM
By Susan K. Livio/Statehouse Bureau
LEBANON TOWNSHIP — When the last patient is moved on Friday, the Sen. Garrett W. Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital in Hunterdon County will be empty two weeks ahead of the tight 12-month schedule Gov. Chris Christie set last July.
But mental health advocates say the state is dragging its feet in setting up a plan to study whether Hagedorn’s former patients are safe and stable in their new settings — and not homeless, in jail or without the proper care. And closing Hagedorn, which largely cared for geriatric patients, is raising new concerns about crowding at the remaining state psychiatric hospitals.
"They have given a lot of attention to the actually closing — moving the patients, finding jobs for the workers. There is no doubt about that. What is less clear is the outcome for patients," said Phillip Lubitz, advocacy programs director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New Jersey. "Tracking the patient outcome does not appear to have been a priority."
When the state last shuttered a psychiatric hospital — Marlboro in Monmouth County in 1998 — officials kept a close watch on how the patients fared by surveying them before it closed and following up six weeks and six months later.
Although Hagedorn is closing on Friday, state officials have yet to hire a firm to track what happens to its about 255former patients — all but a dozen of whom were already moved out as of Thursday.
Human Services officials will advertise for a company in the next 60 to 90 days. The surveys would begin next June, then resume at the 18-month and 24-month mark, Human Services spokeswoman Ellen Lovejoy confirmed.
The state awarded a shorter-term $30,000 contract to a consultant whom Lovejoy said "is working with us to track movement to ensure that the discharges and transfers are appropriate and are accompanied by whatever supportive and case management services are necessary to meet the needs of each person."
KEEPING TABS
Carolyn Beauchamp, president and CEO of the Mental Health Association in New Jersey, said the state needs to properly track these patients to make sure they are safe.
"This was the best hospital to close. But I would like to be sure they are recognizing the importance of following people, who because of age and frailty don’t have the ability to change their setting and situation," Beauchamp said. "I wish they had started the interviews before they left. That did not happen. The bottom line here is the state has to maintain its responsibility for the outcome for the closure, not just the closure itself."
Lubitz said he and other advocates have been pressing the department to track Hagedorn patients since the state decided to close it last year, but learned only a few weeks ago that a bid to hire a firm was being prepared.
Joseph Young, executive director for Disability Rights New Jersey, which sued the state to reduce its reliance on institutions, worried that officials are prepared to pick up on cases where "people disappear, and if there are real problems."
Lovejoy said the private firm to be hired will track the patients in nursing homes and community placements, and the state will be able to report on the large group of patients relocated to other state hospitals.
From last July through Thursday, state social workers relocated more than one-third of Hagedorn’s patients to other state hospitals. In addition, nearly 30 percent went to nursing homes, and nearly one-third fulfilled the administration’s goal of enabling more people with disabilities to be in the "least restrictive" setting by moving to supervised community housing, Lovejoy said.
POPULATION SURGE
Advocates say they are also concerned about crowding in other state hospitals in the wake of Hagedorn’s closing. They say they’ll closely monitor Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital’s surging population increase, which Lovejoy said the department anticipated.
Two 26-bed units inside the Parsippany hospital that are set aside for Hagedorn’s dementia patients and the most medically frail are full, Lovejoy confirmed Friday. The hospital’s census climbed to 516 last month, an increase of 84 patients since last July.
The state also directed the three remaining general psychiatric hospitals to expand capacity by 25 people each to accommodate the admissions surge, according to Lubitz, who said Human Services briefed him on the status of Hagedorn’s closure last month.
Closing Hagedorn will save the state money, but Christie said it was driven by a commitment to civil rights for people with disabilities and his promise to "mark a new day in delivering services for those with mental illness, one that focuses on providing community-based care and housing."
The closure plan Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez released two years ago made clear how elderly or frail patients would be managed: "Older adults requiring continued inpatient care will be transferred to alternative state hospitals. They will not be placed on units with a younger or forensic population."
A QUESTION OF TRUST
Advocates questioned whether the state was keeping its promise.
Mary Zdanowicz, who toured Greystone earlier in the year in anticipation of her 50-year-old sister’s move there on Wednesday, said a hospital employee told her there weren’t specialized units — only a concerted effort to keep the less mobile patients on the first floor in the event of an evacuation.
Lubitz said based on discussions he’s had with state mental health officials, he questions whether the units are as clearly defined as publicly depicted. "We were under the impression there would be specialized units, and it seems to be something other than that," he said.
Lovejoy said that’s not true, although she acknowledged the specialized units are full and some patients are mixed in with the general population. "We have no evidence that people who need those dementia and medically fragile beds are not getting placed," Lovejoy said.
On a mountaintop perch that overlooks the Spruce Run Reservoir, Hagedorn opened more than 100 years ago to treat patients with tuberculosis. It was converted into a geriatric psychiatric hospital in the 1970s, then opened up to seriously ill patients of all ages about a decade ago. Part of the facility will now become a home for 100 homeless veterans.
Link to original article: www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/as_hag...chiatric_hospit.html
Published: Sunday, June 10, 2012, 7:00 AM
By Susan K. Livio/Statehouse Bureau
LEBANON TOWNSHIP — When the last patient is moved on Friday, the Sen. Garrett W. Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital in Hunterdon County will be empty two weeks ahead of the tight 12-month schedule Gov. Chris Christie set last July.
But mental health advocates say the state is dragging its feet in setting up a plan to study whether Hagedorn’s former patients are safe and stable in their new settings — and not homeless, in jail or without the proper care. And closing Hagedorn, which largely cared for geriatric patients, is raising new concerns about crowding at the remaining state psychiatric hospitals.
"They have given a lot of attention to the actually closing — moving the patients, finding jobs for the workers. There is no doubt about that. What is less clear is the outcome for patients," said Phillip Lubitz, advocacy programs director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New Jersey. "Tracking the patient outcome does not appear to have been a priority."
When the state last shuttered a psychiatric hospital — Marlboro in Monmouth County in 1998 — officials kept a close watch on how the patients fared by surveying them before it closed and following up six weeks and six months later.
Although Hagedorn is closing on Friday, state officials have yet to hire a firm to track what happens to its about 255former patients — all but a dozen of whom were already moved out as of Thursday.
Human Services officials will advertise for a company in the next 60 to 90 days. The surveys would begin next June, then resume at the 18-month and 24-month mark, Human Services spokeswoman Ellen Lovejoy confirmed.
The state awarded a shorter-term $30,000 contract to a consultant whom Lovejoy said "is working with us to track movement to ensure that the discharges and transfers are appropriate and are accompanied by whatever supportive and case management services are necessary to meet the needs of each person."
KEEPING TABS
Carolyn Beauchamp, president and CEO of the Mental Health Association in New Jersey, said the state needs to properly track these patients to make sure they are safe.
"This was the best hospital to close. But I would like to be sure they are recognizing the importance of following people, who because of age and frailty don’t have the ability to change their setting and situation," Beauchamp said. "I wish they had started the interviews before they left. That did not happen. The bottom line here is the state has to maintain its responsibility for the outcome for the closure, not just the closure itself."
Lubitz said he and other advocates have been pressing the department to track Hagedorn patients since the state decided to close it last year, but learned only a few weeks ago that a bid to hire a firm was being prepared.
Joseph Young, executive director for Disability Rights New Jersey, which sued the state to reduce its reliance on institutions, worried that officials are prepared to pick up on cases where "people disappear, and if there are real problems."
Lovejoy said the private firm to be hired will track the patients in nursing homes and community placements, and the state will be able to report on the large group of patients relocated to other state hospitals.
From last July through Thursday, state social workers relocated more than one-third of Hagedorn’s patients to other state hospitals. In addition, nearly 30 percent went to nursing homes, and nearly one-third fulfilled the administration’s goal of enabling more people with disabilities to be in the "least restrictive" setting by moving to supervised community housing, Lovejoy said.
POPULATION SURGE
Advocates say they are also concerned about crowding in other state hospitals in the wake of Hagedorn’s closing. They say they’ll closely monitor Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital’s surging population increase, which Lovejoy said the department anticipated.
Two 26-bed units inside the Parsippany hospital that are set aside for Hagedorn’s dementia patients and the most medically frail are full, Lovejoy confirmed Friday. The hospital’s census climbed to 516 last month, an increase of 84 patients since last July.
The state also directed the three remaining general psychiatric hospitals to expand capacity by 25 people each to accommodate the admissions surge, according to Lubitz, who said Human Services briefed him on the status of Hagedorn’s closure last month.
Closing Hagedorn will save the state money, but Christie said it was driven by a commitment to civil rights for people with disabilities and his promise to "mark a new day in delivering services for those with mental illness, one that focuses on providing community-based care and housing."
The closure plan Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez released two years ago made clear how elderly or frail patients would be managed: "Older adults requiring continued inpatient care will be transferred to alternative state hospitals. They will not be placed on units with a younger or forensic population."
A QUESTION OF TRUST
Advocates questioned whether the state was keeping its promise.
Mary Zdanowicz, who toured Greystone earlier in the year in anticipation of her 50-year-old sister’s move there on Wednesday, said a hospital employee told her there weren’t specialized units — only a concerted effort to keep the less mobile patients on the first floor in the event of an evacuation.
Lubitz said based on discussions he’s had with state mental health officials, he questions whether the units are as clearly defined as publicly depicted. "We were under the impression there would be specialized units, and it seems to be something other than that," he said.
Lovejoy said that’s not true, although she acknowledged the specialized units are full and some patients are mixed in with the general population. "We have no evidence that people who need those dementia and medically fragile beds are not getting placed," Lovejoy said.
On a mountaintop perch that overlooks the Spruce Run Reservoir, Hagedorn opened more than 100 years ago to treat patients with tuberculosis. It was converted into a geriatric psychiatric hospital in the 1970s, then opened up to seriously ill patients of all ages about a decade ago. Part of the facility will now become a home for 100 homeless veterans.
Susan Bunting (right), an X-Ray technician at Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital for 12 years finishes vacuuming the auditorium rug as she an other staff members prepare for the June 16 closing of the site.
Employees from Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital and the North Jersey Development Center load wheelchairs from Hagedorn into a back of a truck.
A photos of staff and patients at the Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital from the 1920s.
Link to original article: www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/as_hag...chiatric_hospit.html
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