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Strickland listens to Twin Valley concerns but won't make promises
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
COLUMBUS — Supporters of Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare left a meeting with Gov. Ted Strickland on Tuesday encouraged, but not convinced that he would reverse his decision to close the psychiatric hospital June 30.
"Gov. Strickland was very generous with his time and I truly believe that the Twin Valley issue is not final," said Bryan Bucklew, Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association president, after the March 4 meeting.
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Montgomery County Commissioner Debbie Lieberman, state Rep. Clayton Luckie, D-Dayton, and Deputy City Manager Stan Earley joined Bucklew and a half-dozen others from the health care, law enforcement and academic communities.
House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, attended the meeting but declined comment afterward.
Several at the meeting made the case, Bucklew said, that closing the Dayton region's only public psychiatric facility and sending patients to Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo would be a disaster for the region, including patients, families and local hospitals ill-equipped to handle the seriously mentally ill.
After the meeting, Strickland, a Democrat and former prison psychologist, said he was sympathetic to the group's concerns, but a sagging economy and declining state revenues forced his hand.
"I told them I was not in a position to make any promises," he said.
Strickland said that until Tuesday's meeting, he wasn't fully aware of the implications closing Twin Valley could have on psychiatry and psychology programs at Wright State University, which uses the hospital as a training ground.
"That is certainly a concern to us," he said.
Closing Twin Valley is expected to save the state $13 million in 2009, part of $733 million in cuts needed to meet projected shortfalls in the state's $52.3 billion two-year budget.
In deciding what facilities to close, Strickland said the state considered the age, condition and efficiency of the hospitals and the availability of alternative treatment options in the area.
"I wish I had more resources, quite frankly, but the reality is we've got a very serious set of budget conditions that make it necessary to make decisions that I find painful," he said.
