Dozens of union members rally to oppose closures and diminishing services for those with mental illness and developmental disabilities

Albany – Hundreds of members from the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) lined the sidewalk in front of the state Office of Mental Health (OMH) at 44 Holland Ave. in Albany to protest the way the state is closing and shifting services in several state-operated psychiatric facilities.

The protesters, many who were bused from the New York City area, also chanted and waved signs opposing the shifting of services at the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD).

PEF Vice President Pat Baker said this rally, which is the third held since mid-January, is another step to rectify the injustice being planned for those with mental illness, and to bring attention to solutions which would benefit the state, and the thousands who rely upon its services.

“We have rallied, talked with our elected lawmakers and have presented a strong argument about preserving needed services throughout the state,” Baker said. “The plan to close the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center in Brooklyn will literally leave the largest population of individuals in the state with mental illness abandoned. And the plan to shut down wards in the Bronx, at Creedmoor and the children’s unit at Sagamore, plus the entire adult inpatient program at Mohawk Valley PC, is just another step towards privatization. OMH Commissioner Hogan should be proud to have a state workforce who are experts in their fields and dedicated to their professions. Instead he is listening to an investment banker who has earned a reputation for dismantling needed health care in New York.”

Ed Snow, a PEF Executive Board member who represents union members at OPWDD, said he was at the rally to protest the issues surrounding OPWDD.

“We don’t want to see a diminishment of services that our members provide,” Snow said. “The state is heading towards transferring the responsibility of providing services to voluntary operators. That’s the wrong direction to take. Closing institutional beds at Finger Lakes and the Taconic DDSOs and moving consumers with medical and behavioral problems into the community is not the way to put people first.”

Health care providers at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center react to closure notice

ALBANY, NY - The doctors, nurses, technicians and social workers who provide health care services at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center are blasting the announcement Tuesday, January 31 by the state Office of Mental Health (OMH) to close the Brooklyn facility.

The New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) represents the workers who want lawmakers to understand the services at risk.

"The plan to close Kingsboro is wrong and irresponsible," said PEF Vice President Pat Baker. "Brooklyn has the highest use of mental health services of any county in the state. Closing Kingsboro would leave the largest consumer of mental health services with no local inpatient care beyond short-term stays in local general hospitals," Baker said.

The OMH has not even waited for the elected representatives of the citizens to vote, it has already sent out notices announcing its plans to close Kingsboro and send patients and their families more than two-and-a-half hours away to South Beach Psychiatric Center on Staten Island. Kingsboro serves a predominantly poor and minority population.

The mental health workers at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center want to continue providing services in an area where there is a critical need for mental health beds serving the underprivileged.

PEF is calling on state lawmakers to step in and preserve mental health care services in central Brooklyn by stopping the closure.

Members from Brooklyn lobby lawmakers in Albany to preserve health care services at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center and SUNY Downstate Hospital.

More than 50 members met individually and as a group with Brooklyn area legislators asking for their support to make sure health care is available to those in need in central Brooklyn.

The meeting, hosted by Assemblyman Vito Lopez, gave members an opportunity to educate lawmakers on the danger of losing services in an area where there is a critical need for hospital beds serving the underprivileged. A health care restructuring plan currently under consideration would deny access to lower income areas and shift services instead to more affluent communities.

PEF members rally with other health care providers to preserve services in central Brooklyn

Dozens of doctors, nurses, technicians and social workers protest outside the Marriott hotel in Brooklyn on Tuesday, January 11.

Inside, investment banker, Stephen Berger presented his recommendations to close Kingsboro Psychiatric Center and closing beds at SUNY Downstate University Hospital which would lead to cut jobs and services.

See Press Release

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