- Home
- Eastern Shore News
- Franchot Visits USCMHC
Franchot Visits USCMHC
- By shore update
- Published November 1, 2009
- Eastern Shore News
State Comptroller Peter Franchot indicated to a small group of demonstrators urging that the Upper Shore Mental Health Center be kept open that he would “fight very hard for you.” His comment came after he stopped his state car and stood in the middle of Scheeler Road to greet Upper Shore supporters. It is the strongest signal yet that Franchot now opposes closing the mental treatment facility. The comptroller previously indicated his position change when he told the head of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to reconsider the plan to shut down the center.
Kent County Commissioner Ron Fithian believes Franchot’s appearance and comments put the center about halfway to salvation. It would take just one more vote change from the three-member Board of Public Works. Significantly, State Treasurer Nancy Kopp did not show up although it had been announced she would come. Her top deputy came instead. Fithian pointed out that Kopp is appointed to her position by the Democratically-controlled General Assembly, and it will be very hard for her to go against Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley. The decision will likely come down to what O’Malley wants. Appearing on Maryland public television last month, O’Malley said his initial decision to close Upper Shore was based on faulty information, but he stopped short of reversing himself, and his subsequent remarks on where he stands have been fuzzy.
Franchot complained that all the figures printed in the press about savings to come from closing the center (numbers that originated with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene) have been wildly inaccurate. Franchot said the savings have been placed as high as $9-million, but he said he now understands the actual numbers would be $1.7-million in 2010 and $5-million in 2011. He added that due to the expense of caring for the patients elsewhere if Upper Shore is closed, he questions whether there truly would be cost savings.
State Senator E.J. Pipkin zeroed in on the contention of state Health Secretary John Colmers that there are robust alternatives if the center is closed. He noted that Chester River Hospital Center is small and has no psychiatric beds and that Queen Anne’s and Caroline counties have no hospitals. He pointed out that the closest private hospital for psychiatric care in Elkton has only 15 beds, and they are all full. Mayor Margo Bailey advised Franchot that the Chestertown Police Department is very small, and Chief Robert Edler told her that if Upper Shore is closed and his officers respond to a situation involving a disturbed person, there will be no place he can take them. State Senator Richard Sossi argued that because there simply are no other alternatives, nobody in their right mind would vote to close Upper Shore.
Fithin told the comptroller that everybody understands that the state is in a financial crisis and the budget must be cut. He noted that 90-percent of highway revenue had been taken from Kent County and yet that issue has not drawn protests, unlike local reactions to closing the mental health center. Kent Commissioner Roy Crowe noted that Upper Shore is the county’s 10th largest employer with a professional staff of 90.
Kent County Commissioner Ron Fithian believes Franchot’s appearance and comments put the center about halfway to salvation. It would take just one more vote change from the three-member Board of Public Works. Significantly, State Treasurer Nancy Kopp did not show up although it had been announced she would come. Her top deputy came instead. Fithian pointed out that Kopp is appointed to her position by the Democratically-controlled General Assembly, and it will be very hard for her to go against Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley. The decision will likely come down to what O’Malley wants. Appearing on Maryland public television last month, O’Malley said his initial decision to close Upper Shore was based on faulty information, but he stopped short of reversing himself, and his subsequent remarks on where he stands have been fuzzy.
Franchot complained that all the figures printed in the press about savings to come from closing the center (numbers that originated with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene) have been wildly inaccurate. Franchot said the savings have been placed as high as $9-million, but he said he now understands the actual numbers would be $1.7-million in 2010 and $5-million in 2011. He added that due to the expense of caring for the patients elsewhere if Upper Shore is closed, he questions whether there truly would be cost savings.
State Senator E.J. Pipkin zeroed in on the contention of state Health Secretary John Colmers that there are robust alternatives if the center is closed. He noted that Chester River Hospital Center is small and has no psychiatric beds and that Queen Anne’s and Caroline counties have no hospitals. He pointed out that the closest private hospital for psychiatric care in Elkton has only 15 beds, and they are all full. Mayor Margo Bailey advised Franchot that the Chestertown Police Department is very small, and Chief Robert Edler told her that if Upper Shore is closed and his officers respond to a situation involving a disturbed person, there will be no place he can take them. State Senator Richard Sossi argued that because there simply are no other alternatives, nobody in their right mind would vote to close Upper Shore.
Fithin told the comptroller that everybody understands that the state is in a financial crisis and the budget must be cut. He noted that 90-percent of highway revenue had been taken from Kent County and yet that issue has not drawn protests, unlike local reactions to closing the mental health center. Kent Commissioner Roy Crowe noted that Upper Shore is the county’s 10th largest employer with a professional staff of 90.