The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, citing an $8.56 billion state budget deficit, has said it will close the 103-bed hospital - one of its five state facilities. DMHAS will also shut down two state-run detox facilities, turning those services over to nonprofit agencies. In February, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said closing Cedarcrest would chop $3.6 million a year off the state budget.
Cedarcrest has been treating patients with severe addiction and psychiatric problems since 1976. Its patients are eligible to participate in Medicare and Medicaid; the hospital is accredited. It services numerous communities in central and north-central Connecticut, including Rocky Hill and Wethersfield.
In the early 1900s the original Cedarcrest was an asylum, nestled in a wooded setting on the Berlin-Wethersfield line. In fact, it was a sanitorium used to treat tuberculosis patients. Then in 1976 it became a psychiatric facility and assumed a new name, Cedarcrest Regional Hospital.
Ghost hunters who have visited the sanitorium, a creepy abandoned building, report hearing footsteps, scratching noises, moaning and unexplained banging.
DMHAS's Behavior Health Program Manager Steve DiLella says he is more concerned with the future, specifically the welfare of Cedarcrest's patients. He maintains that despite the closing, patients will still receive quality care.
"We see it as a redistribution of our services across the entire spectrum," he said.
Cedarcrest's problem was accelerated with the retirement of 311 employees in the past few years, including nurses, doctors, direct-care staff and other clinicians. Now some patients will live in the community. Others will transfer to Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown or to DMHAS centers in Hartford, New Haven or Bridgeport.
"No employee as a result of [Cedarcrest] closure will lose his job," DiLella said. "However, with the economic situation being what is, we are looking at the overall system trying to find cost-effective ways to continue to provide quality care."
The Department of Mental Health has also been in contact with more than 200 health providers in the state, assessing their cash flow and capacity.
DMHAS Commissioner Thomas Kirk Jr., Ph.D. has stated that the current monthly allotments authorized by the governor take into account a 1 percent cut to providers, as well as reductions to certain mental health community providers. Kirk believes once a state budget is set his department should be better able to negotiate favorable contracts with existing providers.
Finally, Kirk acknowledges in an Aug. 10 letter to providers that though his agency is going through a difficult period, "we cannot afford to lose sight of the fact that thousands of Connecticut residents and their families rely upon us for behavioral health care."
Scott Whipple can be reached at swhipple@centralctcommunications.com or by calling (9860) 225-4601, ext. 319.