[MarignyBywater] Mental Health Community Outraged Over Hospital Closure

[Murray, Sen. (Chamber Laptop)]

Thanks for the article. It's good to see we'll have help from the community.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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From: "nolarussell at bellsouth.net"
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:31:54 -0500
To: Sara Woodard<swoodard at scapc.org>; Ed Carlson<ecarlson at ohlinc.org>; USDemocrat-Louisiana<USDemocrat-Louisiana at yahoogroups.com>; noladem<USDemocrat-LA-NewOrleans at yahoogroups.com>; Marigny<marignybywater at marigny.org>; Judy<jwatts at agendaforchildren.org>
Subject: Mental Health Community Outraged Over Hospital Closure

Mental Health Community Outraged Over Hospital Closure
New Orleans Adolescent Hospital To Close June 1

POSTED: 7:17 pm CDT March 21, 2009

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NEW ORLEANS -- The local mental health community was enraged on Saturday and spoke out against the planned closing of the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital.The closure means the loss of about 35 mental health beds and dozens of jobs.For decades, New Orleans Adolescent Hospital, or NOAH, has provided care and services to mental health patients. But due to budget cuts, it won't anymore.The state has ordered the closing of NOAH, shifting roughly 35 mental health beds from New Orleans to the Northshore."Mental health patients need a mental health facility," said Dr. Kevin Stevens, of the New Orleans Health Department. "Going across the lake just isn't going to work for what we need in Louisiana and in New Orleans.""It's a huge dangerous step backwards," said Cecile Tebo, of the New Orleans Police Department Crisis Unit. "The fact that they're going to be closing down their services all together sent complete shockwaves through the entire mental health system."Tebo said the planned consolidation caught mental health professionals off guard."None of the people on the ground providing the hands on care knew about this coming down the pike at all," he said.Before Hurricane Katrina, there were about 350 mental health beds in the city. The move drops that number to fewer than 100.NOAH employs more than 234 employees, many with more than 20 years experience in mental health."We've got to get this thing together," Stevens said. "Every day that goes by is more problematic. Get on it and do it right now.""People in the mental health community are going to have to come forward and show outrage," Tebo said. "This should not be happening right now."NOAH is expected to close June 1.

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