Updated on November 20, 2024.
The impending closure of a 14-person inpatient psychiatric care unit in Berlin, among other cutbacks on mental health care spending in central Vermont, will cause additional suffering for people in crisis, advocates said on Tuesday.
They were responding to the news that the University of Vermont Health Network plans to slash tens of millions from its budget — a move that has put the psychiatric unit at Central Vermont Medical Center on the chopping block.
“People will die” as a result, said state Rep. Anne Donahue (R-Northfield), who has fought for years to improve support for people with mental health conditions.
Donahue is one of five members of a psychiatric services advisory committee at CVMC who signed a letter asking the Green Mountain Care Board to stop the closure of the psychiatric unit, which is slated to happen by the end of the year.
“[It] singles out an existing health disparity group for loss of access to essential health care, all in the midst of a statewide mental health crisis,” the letter said.
The move comes amid tension between the UVM Health Network, the state’s largest health care provider, and the chief health regulator, the Green Mountain Care Board. With health insurance premiums soaring, the board has been trying to find ways to control hospital spending.
Regulators in October approved budgets for the University of Vermont Medical Center and the Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin that the network says will force it to take in about $122 million less revenue than it had proposed. But the care board said in a statement last week that it was concerned about the announced cuts and their impact, adding that it did not approve the reductions ahead of time.
In a written statement, CVMC president and chief operating officer Anna Noonan acknowledged that, across Vermont, “mental health services are inadequate for the patients who desperately need access to them.” But, she said, the hospital made the “difficult decision” to close the clinic “to comply with budget orders from our regulator.”
“When it ultimately closes, we will support mental health needs through enhanced staffing in the Emergency Department and in other key departments and we are actively exploring community partnerships to address mental health needs in Central Vermont,” Noonan said.
Nicole DiDomenico, a member of the psychiatric services advisory committee, said she spent eight days at the Berlin unit in 2016 and received medication and outpatient services for depression after she checked out.
“It really saved my life,” DiDomenico said. She added that the other cuts are being phased in while the Berlin ones are happening more abruptly. “This is a horrible and poorly thought out decision,” she said.
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