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Mount Pleasant mental health institute faces closure
For the Daily Gate City
DES MOINES –– Department of Human Services Director Charles Krogmeier today submitted a proposal to close the mental health institute in Mount Pleasant and move all of the services provided there to the mental health institute in Independence.
The proposal is in response to a mandate approved by the Legislature last spring requiring Krogmeier to recommend closing one of the four institutes without loss of services.
“The quality of service at the MHI in Mount Pleasant is beyond question and I want everyone to know that this recommendation is no reflection whatsoever on the dedication and expertise of our staff, which is outstanding,” Krogmeier said.
Given the legislative requirement, Krogmeier said he decided to recommend a closure that would cause the least economic fallout for staff and the community, the least disruption for families of patients and the most opportunities for improving the mental health system.
The impact on the state budget would depend on how legislators decided to close the facility.
Two years from now, in fiscal 2012, the annual general fund net savings would be about $1.7 million.
The net savings or cost in fiscal 2011 would depend on whether employees were offered moving expenses to relocate to comparable jobs in Independence.
Mount Pleasant has 108 employees, compared to 100 at Clarinda, 201 at Cherokee and 267 at Independence.
Mount Pleasant has an operational budget of $8.8 million, the second smallest of the four MHIs. Clarinda’s budget is $8.6 million, while the Independence and Cherokee facilities have budgets of $21.1 million and $16.1 million.
All four institutes are more than a century old.
Over the last several decades, large portions of the campuses at Mount Pleasant and Clarinda have been utilized as prisons by the Department of Corrections.
All four MHIs offer acute adult psychiatric services, with Mount Pleasant’s being the smallest unit at 14 beds. There are 40 beds at Independence, 46 at Cherokee, and 20 at Clarinda.
All four also offer specialized services.
Mount Pleasant is the only mental health institute to offer substance abuse treatment (a 50-bed unit, with approximately half of admissions coming from Polk County), and a 15-bed “dual diagnosis” unit for individuals with both mental illness and substance abuse issues.
Krogmeier said he recognized the negative impact on the community at Mount Pleasant, but he said part of the loss could be offset if the Legislature decides to use the vacated space to expand the prison there.
DES MOINES –– Department of Human Services Director Charles Krogmeier today submitted a proposal to close the mental health institute in Mount Pleasant and move all of the services provided there to the mental health institute in Independence.
The proposal is in response to a mandate approved by the Legislature last spring requiring Krogmeier to recommend closing one of the four institutes without loss of services.
“The quality of service at the MHI in Mount Pleasant is beyond question and I want everyone to know that this recommendation is no reflection whatsoever on the dedication and expertise of our staff, which is outstanding,” Krogmeier said.
Given the legislative requirement, Krogmeier said he decided to recommend a closure that would cause the least economic fallout for staff and the community, the least disruption for families of patients and the most opportunities for improving the mental health system.
The impact on the state budget would depend on how legislators decided to close the facility.
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The net savings or cost in fiscal 2011 would depend on whether employees were offered moving expenses to relocate to comparable jobs in Independence.
Mount Pleasant has 108 employees, compared to 100 at Clarinda, 201 at Cherokee and 267 at Independence.
Mount Pleasant has an operational budget of $8.8 million, the second smallest of the four MHIs. Clarinda’s budget is $8.6 million, while the Independence and Cherokee facilities have budgets of $21.1 million and $16.1 million.
All four institutes are more than a century old.
Over the last several decades, large portions of the campuses at Mount Pleasant and Clarinda have been utilized as prisons by the Department of Corrections.
All four MHIs offer acute adult psychiatric services, with Mount Pleasant’s being the smallest unit at 14 beds. There are 40 beds at Independence, 46 at Cherokee, and 20 at Clarinda.
All four also offer specialized services.
Mount Pleasant is the only mental health institute to offer substance abuse treatment (a 50-bed unit, with approximately half of admissions coming from Polk County), and a 15-bed “dual diagnosis” unit for individuals with both mental illness and substance abuse issues.
Krogmeier said he recognized the negative impact on the community at Mount Pleasant, but he said part of the loss could be offset if the Legislature decides to use the vacated space to expand the prison there.
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