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Strickland, legislature clash on Twin Valley closing
Should Twin Valley supporters keep up the fight?
Friday, May 23, 2008
COLUMBUS — Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and the Republican-controlled legislature appear headed for a showdown over his plan to close Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare in Dayton by June 30.
Despite a line-item veto threat from Strickland, the Ohio House included a six-month moratorium on the closing in the capital improvements budget that was approved 94-2 on Thursday night, May 22.
Extras
Strickland also expressed "concerns" about a second budget provision earmarking $6.3 million for a Dayton-area crisis care center to ease anticipated pressure when the 110-bed Twin Valley on Wayne Avenue closes.
"I have a constitutional obligation to maintain a balanced budget and that requires me to make some very difficult decisions," Strickland said.
The budget includes nearly $84 million for a new Cleveland-area psychiatric hospital.
Strickland said the situations are different.
House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, who added the moratorium and earmark to the budget, called the veto threat "unfortunate."
Husted said he was trying to help the Dayton area cope with the loss of its only public psychiatric hospital.
Closing Twin Valley and a mental hospital in Cambridge is part of Strickland's plan to avoid a potential $733 million budget deficit. The moratorium would apply to the Cambridge hospital.
The $6.3 million earmark would take a big chunk of the $8 million in the budget to help communities statewide with mental health crisis centers, said Keith Dailey, Strickland's spokesman.
Bryan Bucklew, president of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association, said, "we've gotten no specific help from the governor's office or the Department of Mental Health."
The budget now goes to Senate.
Contact William Hershey at (937) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com. Staff Writers Jessica Wehrman and Anthony Gottschlich contributed to this report.
Comments
By concerned citizen
June 20, 2008 2:05 PM | Link to this
I truly can see why this Facility is closing. They are over paid.Don’t work when they are suppost to be working they are out off the grounds 1/2 hour lunch becomes 1.5 hrs …Smoking ..attending parties at times that should belong to the state. A better proposal would have been to put it in the hands of a Private firm to run it. Cut the pay ..get a days work for a days pay.If it was to stay open employees would only DRAIN taxpayer money longer.PRIVATIZE it the same they have other aspect jobs
By The 0ne
May 27, 2008 11:05 AM | Link to this
Twin Valley Dayton has more than one hospital on it site, the closing of the Forensic Center left a state of the art max facility that has been sitting with over 100 bed capcity that was built in 1980’s vacant since 2001? There was nothing wrong with this building and prior to it closing thousands of dollars and upgrades were performed, including removing the restrictive meaures to make the facility user friendly for other uses. Its years newer than the one we use now?
By Alan
May 25, 2008 11:20 AM | Link to this
As if this had anything to do with reducing the budget deficit…Welcome to the days of Boss Tweed! Think for a moment. Cleveland has two aging Mental Health facilities so we should believe that it makes sense to build a new $84 million facility to replace them under the guise that it’s a regional facility? All ODMH hospitals are regional facilities. It makes a lot more sense to use that $84 million to close one of the Cleveland facilities and keep the Dayton and Cambridge facilities open.
By Dan Jergens
May 25, 2008 10:28 AM | Link to this
What a sin!How can you put a price on saving a human life? It could happen to anyone,but nice to know that there would be a professional facility close by so that you as a family can offer your support to get your loved one back on the right track.My son got turned around and is now attending college!That’s a big positive right there!I don’t see anyone being able to turn there back on these people if they have spent time there even just to visit.Dayton needs this!
By Dan Jergens
May 25, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this
What a sin!How can you put a price on saving a human life? It could happen to anyone,but nice to know that there would be a professional facility close by so that you as a family can offer your support to get your loved one back on the right track.My son got turned around and is now attending college!That’s a big positive right there!I don’t see anyone being able to turn there back on these people if they have spent time there even just to visit.Dayton needs this!
By Dan Jergens
May 25, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this
What a sin!How can you put a price on saving a human life? It could happen to anyone,but nice to know that there would be a professional facility close by so that you as a family can offer your support to get your loved one back on the right track.My son got turned around and is now attending college!That’s a big positive right there!I don’t see anyone being able to turn there back on these people if they have spent time there even just to visit.Dayton needs this!
By alwaysup37
May 25, 2008 12:41 AM | Link to this
Hmmm, is right. Let’s see. On one hand $3,000,000,000,00 trillion dollars killing people for naught, propping up a puppet piece of crap in Iraq that will fall and become another Iran ,if not worse. On the other hand Ohio needs a few million for mental health clinics for american citizens,but don’t have it. Yea, that makes sense to me..
By Vickie
May 24, 2008 2:38 PM | Link to this
Yes we need to continue to fight, at least they will know that we did not vote for this, its unfair and unjust. Stickland should be in close contact with all of the people he is affecting with this rash decision instead of out of reach where he can just ignore everything while he diverts all the funds to his pet projects. Sorry about the luck of the poor people who are being dealt such a grave disservice.
By Rick Millward
May 24, 2008 8:35 AM | Link to this
This is another reason we need to have health care for everyone (doctor, dental and mental health). We wouldn’t have to make these decisions if we fixed our for profit, and not people, capitalist nightmare. Wake up America.
By Wordell
May 23, 2008 4:01 PM | Link to this
…countin’ flowers on the wall…that don’t bother me at all…playin’ solitare till dawn, with a deck a’ 51…smokin’ cigarettes and watchin’ Captain Kangaroo…don’t tell me I’ve nothin’ to do!!!! Don’t matter where I am as long as the Democrat Paty takes care a’ me!!! Go “thereapist Strickland”!!! You da man!!! (Got any ludes???)
By Jim
May 23, 2008 3:20 PM | Link to this
It was my understanding that Gov. Strickland is from Portsmouth or the neighboring village of Sciotoville. I don’t think he hails from Cleveland,unless he was frm there before moving to the Portsmouth area.
By Harry
May 23, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this
Strickland is a D*&che Bag! To the mindless dumacraps put him in power, live with it. Maybe he will put Dann in charge of Mental Health.
By Harry
May 23, 2008 2:05 PM | Link to this
Strickland is a D*&che Bag! To the mindless dumacraps put him in power, live with it. Maybe he will put Dann in charge of Mental Health.
By Edy
May 23, 2008 1:40 PM | Link to this
By all means keep lobbying for Twin Valley. I work in the legal field and several times a week we get a couple calls from folks who want us to help them get out of Twin Valleys because they are being held against their will. If Twin Valley closes then these folks will be set free and come to our office. I’m not trained to deal with this. Strickland better watch it our he will be following his friend Dann. 84 million? Dayton can do it for less. We always have had to make do with less.
By Lynn, student
May 23, 2008 12:09 PM | Link to this
Hmm, let me see I am getting this right. (1) Strickland is from Cleveland (2) The closing facility is not in Cleveland (3) The proposed new & improved facility will be in Cleveland That seems to add up to listening to his constituents in his home base, a normal political move. However, if those who are posting here would each write at least one letter, once a week, we could have a voice, although it appears that this move is probably too late at this point. I’ve seen it work before though!
By Lynn, student
May 23, 2008 12:08 PM | Link to this
Hmm, let me see I am getting this right. (1) Strickland is from Cleveland (2) The closing facility is not in Cleveland (3) The proposed new & improved facility will be in Cleveland That seems to add up to listening to his constituents in his home base, a normal political move. However, if those who are posting here would each write at least one letter, once a week, we could have a voice, although it appears that this move is probably too late at this point. I’ve seen it work before though!
By harry ewing
May 23, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this
Your union endorsed the Gov & heres your payback.
By Rita, LSW
May 23, 2008 10:15 AM | Link to this
I’m wondering if they could use only $77.7 million for the new Cleveland facility, and divert 6.3 from that project to Dayton to keep Twin Valley open. Oh I forgot, that’s way to practical. If it makes sense, that’s what our government won’t do. Forgive my idiocy.
By Concerned
May 23, 2008 10:01 AM | Link to this
Antidepressents now outrank all other prescriptions written in the U.S. even surpassing b.p. & cholesterol. With the bad economy we’ll be seeing even more people who are in need of professional help and we’ll need more facilities. I’m not saying that he has, but it’s even possible that Strickland himself has benefitted at some point from medications and/or professional help. He may wish he had something if he manages to go through with this closure - it’s people’s lives we’re talking about.
By Sam
May 23, 2008 9:51 AM | Link to this
Why would the people that actually care about vulnerable populations like the mentally ill, roll over now? Strickland’s administration has a track record for cuts to any geographic area or population group that can’t protect themselves, as long as it’s not in his base of political support in Cleveland. This is just more of the same. Thank Heavens we have a few good citizens in office like Husted that are not afraid to “fight the fight for what is right”!!!
By Concerned
May 23, 2008 9:47 AM | Link to this
I know several people who have told me that they’ve been fortunate to have received care in this facility. One told me that she’d still be institutionalized if it hadn’t been for Twin Valley. I know someone else who’s trying to find a good place locally for a sister but her sister needs something relatively stable & doesn’t feel that someplace which is possibly going to close is what is needed. Doesn’t the Gov. realize how important mental health care is to his constituents?
By mom
May 23, 2008 8:43 AM | Link to this
Yes, keep up the fight. Twin Valley is where a certain someone I know was being treated and they released him do to the closing and that he was “non-violent”. Now I have to move to look for a new place to live to get away from him. Thanks Strickland!
By PMD
May 23, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this
With a brother who has a mental illness I can speak from experience about the importance of Twin Valley. They can never allot enough money to another facility to compensate the closing of Twin Valley. It is unfortunate that Strickland is not workig for the people during his term. Like it or not, mental illness is a part of our society and the Dayton area needs Twin Valley.
By Tim
May 23, 2008 7:43 AM | Link to this
Governor Strickland needs to stop saying that closing Twin Valley was a difficult decision. It was obvious months ago that he did not give it a moment’s thought. He has acknowledged as much when stating that he did not realize the impact the closing would have on the Dayton community. The Administration has not even attempted to look for other areas to trim the budget. They took the lazy way out!!! The Department of Mental Health is the only area of state government that closed facilities.
By joe
May 23, 2008 6:39 AM | Link to this
“The budget includes nearly $84 million for a new Cleveland-area psychiatric hospital” Well isn’t that interesing…. “Strickland said the situations are different.” Sure it is….Dayton doesn’t have enough lobbyists….
By randy
May 23, 2008 6:13 AM | Link to this
Yes please keep up the fight. This governor is going to ruin this state. All of his cuts are into areas that do not affect his pets and buddies. Just what we need more money dumped into the mistake on the lake. What next govenror, move the capitol to Cleveland. Lets see cut the budget by doing away with jobs. That makes sence if the people are not doing anything productive. I think all elected officials should not get a single cent of salary and be a ward of the state. Lets see how many run then
By concerned
May 23, 2008 3:15 AM | Link to this
yes
By Riverdale Ghost
May 23, 2008 2:01 AM | Link to this
Yes.