On June 2, 2008, Mayor Pat McCrory held a press conference in Raleigh, NC, and made the following statement:
Six years into a terribly mismanaged mental health care reform, the state is quickly moving to make a bad situation even worse. The tragedy of our poorly implemented reform movement is that many of our most vulnerable citizens have been left without the care they desperately need.
Today we are faced with long waiting lists for admission to mental health facilities, but the state is moving forward on a plan to close Dorothea Dix Hospital and reduce the number of beds available even further. The hasty move to a new facility without adequate staffing and with design flaws only exacerbates an already bad situation.
I am calling on the Governor and Legislative Leaders to keep Dix Hospital fully functional for the fiscal year in order to give the next Governor a chance to bring new leadership to our mental health system.
The media and the News & Observer in particular has done an outstanding job in informing the public of mismanagement in the state’s reform efforts. The lack of strong leadership and the rush to implement change without proper planning has cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in wasteful spending. At the same time, many of our most fragile citizens have not received the level of care they desperately need.
North Carolina is blessed with a growing population. But our growing population will put increasing demands on a mental health system that is reducing the number of state hospital beds. A hasty move now to close Dix will deny the next Governor one option to meet future needs.
The NC Psychiatric Association, Dix Hospital workers and the media have documented problems in design and staffing in the new mental health facility, Central Regional Hospital. Umstead Hospital, which is also scheduled to close, is experiencing problems with federal regulators and a non-governmental organization that accredits hospitals. Broughton Hospital is unable to accept new patients because of federal action. Keeping Dix open will give the next governor some time to review the problems facing mental health care and offer him or her the chance to give new leadership in this critical area.
