Newly elected VSEA President John Reese (and VSEA Director Mark Mitchell) will be getting out soon to worksites across Vermont to talk with VSEA members about their union, their jobs, their concerns, their hopes and whatever else is on the minds of state employees. Here are some of the intital tour dates and locations:

Thursday, February 9 -- Costello Courthouse -- Burlington -- Time TBD
Thursday, February 9 -- Chittenden Correctional Facility -- Burlington -- 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, February 16 -- Morrisville DOL -- 10:30 a.m.
Thursday, February 16 -- Morrisville Professional Building -- Morrisville -- Noon
Thursday, February 16 -- Morrisville AOT Garage -- 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 8 -- 108 Cherry St. -- Burlington -- 10:30 a.m.
Thursday, March 8 -- DCF, 426 Industrial Ave. -- 12:15 p.m.

"In discussions on Wednesday, eight out of 10 lawmakers on the Human Services committee, including the chair, agreed that the state needs a 25-bed, state run facility. Most also said the structure should be designed in such a way that wings can be added on to it in future if the community mental health system plans and placements at regional hospitals don’t work out."

"This is a good first step to ensure there are an adequate number of acute mental health beds in central Vermont," said VSEA Legislative Director Conor Casey. "VSEA caregivers are encouraged by the news but hopeful that nothing is set in stone yet and that there will still be consideration for even more beds as the plan works its way through the legislative process."

When campaigning for Governor, listen to what then Sen. Peter Shumlin told the VSEA Board of Trustees about his vision for the future of the Vermont State Hospital.

"This dream to partner with private hospitals will never work."

Erica Smith of East Montpelier, a psychiatric nurse for 15 years who worked at the state hospital and now is in community mental health, said community treatment can have “wonderful” results for some people. But she cautioned that people misunderstand the high level of illness that afflicts some patients and some just do not do well in community programs and need intensive care. “I am very fearful 16 beds is not enough and people are not going to survive in the community with this many beds,” she said.

Associated Press Story
WPTZ

Tonight, in Room 11 at the State House, dozens of mental health professionals, relatives of persons suffering with acute mental illness, employees in the mental health system (including hopefully eye-opening testimony from nurses at Fletcher Allen and a health care professional at Central Vermont Hospital), and consumers of this critical public service. The heavily popular opinion was to keep acute mental health services centralized and to expand the 16-bed number currently being championed by the State. Some also worried that mental health services were being piecemealed, when compared to how the State would react to replacing, say, an acute cardiac care hospital. Some asked why mental health services were being tiered and treated differently. Many worried about the patients' well-being, understanding that the private hospitals are not equipped to treat the level of acuity routinely seen at the VSH. This fact was related to legislators by nurses currently working at Fletcher Allen Medical Center. They said the patients they would normally treat are currently being shut out of the system. Some citizens reminded of the drive times required for some families under the State's plan to place more than half of new beds in southern VT. One parent in the crowd complained of having to spend six hours on the road to visit with son with Brattleboro (where, under the State's plan, he could still end up, even with a 16-bed hospital in central VT). Current VSH staff continued to explain the differences in their training and why Vermont's acute mental health care should not be left up to meeting a hospital's bottom line or profit margin. Experienced employees do it best, and that sentiment was voiced throughout the night by most testifying. More to come in the morning papers...

"Carole Fowler, an Environmental Technician with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, is being honored with a "2011 Regional State Wastewater Operator Certification Provider Excellence Award" by EPA."

"Patients currently needing immediate care cannot be placed due to lack of beds. Court-ordered patients to VSH for evaluation are being held in jail. Patients needing immediate care are routinely being held 24-48 hours in emergency rooms waiting for a bed and treatment. I was told this week that someone was held in the ER for three days waiting for a bed. Would our society tolerate this for someone with any critical illness other than mental illness? Criminalize other medical conditions? No!"

Hopefully, lawmakers are listening to the voices of those who are concerned about fast-tracking wholesale changes to Vermont's historic commitment to care for extrememly vulnerable Vermonters!

"Looking to rein in the use of public money to pay what he called excessive salaries, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed an executive order on Wednesday placing a $199,000 limit on the amount of state funds that contractors can use to pay executives."

"Marylanders making six-figure salaries or more would pay higher income taxes to help cover the state’s budget shortfall and rising teacher pension costs under a spending plan that Gov. Martin O’Malley is scheduled to release Wednesday."