Brattleboro Retreat CEO Sounding Same Alarm To Lawmakers That VSEA & Mental Health Advocates Began Sounding Over A Decade Ago
The CEO of the Brattleboro Retreat posted an opinion piece on VTDigger, and he’s calling for a repeal of the federal law that requires facilities caring for persons living with mental illness to have a maximum of just 16 beds. Given the scope of the mental health crisis nationwide, the requirement does need to be lifted, but Vermonters should not forget that VSEA and mental health advocates produced a working plan as early as 2006 to construct a stand-alone, state-of-the-art mental health hospital right here in central Vermont. The plan was introduced largely because of the 16-bed federal limitation, and the VSEA/advocate plan called for 65 beds. Critics argued it would have cost millions to build at the time, but VSEA and advocates countered that it would pay for itself over a short period of time–and it would have.