EXTRA...

State President protests closing nearest state mental hospital

TODAY's quote: “I think we need to talk about how to provide mental health services to that part of the state. If you close Taunton, then what happens? I have great concerns about that. We’ve already heard from our hospitals, South Coast and the others that they have no capacity, so where do these people go?”
- Therese Murray, State Senate President

Murray pretest closing Taunton Hospital's effect on Cape Cod

Taunton State Hospital was mortally wounded in 2006 when an arson-sparked blaze destroyed the entire central administration portion of the asylum.

Closing makes Worcester the nearest such facility for Cape Cod

While Patrick administration has defended the proposal to close the Taunton facility to ensure that the agency lives within its budget, and the state's Department of Mental Health officials intend to move most of the hospital’s 169 beds to facilities in Tewksbury and Worcester. 

Senate President Therese Murray, whose district included Plymouth and the Upper Cape, called yesterday for mental health resources to be available in “every community,” repeating the phrase for emphasis in front of Department of Mental Health officials who recently announced plans to close Taunton Hospital, a facility that serves Murray’s Cape Cod constituents.

Once state-of-the-art mental healthcare facilities, Kirkbride buildings like Taunton have long been relics of an obsolete therapeutic method known as Moral Treatment. In the latter half of the 19th century, these massive structures were conceived as ideal sanctuaries for the mentally ill and as an active participant in their recovery.

Read the Herald-News story here.

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