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NAMI Pennsylvania
Harrisburg State Hospital Closing Process
Why single out mental patients?
(Editorial)
Article Courtesy of The
Patriot-News
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
If the Harrisburg State Hospital closes, it will be devastating
for the people who really need the care the most. It will also be
a horrendous predicament for anyone who might become mentally ill
in the future. It can happen to anyone.
A person who has a breakdown can stay only 10 days in a general
hospital. Insurance companies have a limit on how long patients
can stay and on how much they will pay. Some patients need at least
a few months to get better. Some require years and various medication
trials. Others need constant supervision and structure that a group
home cannot always supply.
There are not enough group homes in the New Cumberland/Camp Hill/Mechanicsburg/Carlisle/Shippensburg
area to house all those patients. That means many of them will have
to go to the long-term facility in Danville, where visiting will
be very inconvenient.
The Work Advancement Center is housed at the state hospital. Many
former patients of the Harrisburg State Hospital depend on WAC for
money and to structure their time. Some are unable to work regular
jobs yet do not fit into the Crisis Intervention Team programs for
the retarded either.
Mentally ill people needing long-range care and medication trials
will instead end up in prison. Would you like your child to be there
-- especially if they had a severe mental illness? Why all this
doing away with services for the mentally ill? Does anyone target
cancer or heart centers to close them down?
I hope those thinking of closing the hospital will look into their
hearts and consciences. It would be a big mistake.
CAROL SOKOL
Mechanicsburg
Copyright 2005 PennLive.com.
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