ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:

1. Hagedorn trustees ask leaders to put off closing
2. Hagedorn public meeting
3. Pleas to save Hagedorn Hospital
4. Community mental health saves lives and tax dollars

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Hagedorn trustees ask leaders to put off closing

Concerned about adverse effects on patients, the trustees of Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital in Hunterdon County urged state legislators today to postpone any decision on closing their facility.

“We are alarmed and dismayed at the speed in which this business decision seems to be almost a foregone conclusion,” board chairwoman Gail Masson told more than a hundred relatives, friends and staff packed in the hospital’s auditorium.

See more:
http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2010/06/hagedorn_trustees_ask_state_le.html

Watch the NJN TV Coverage (minute 10:58)
http://www.njn.net/television/webcast/njnnews/wednesday.html

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Hagedorn public meeting

Gail Masson, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, said that ever since the board was notified of the governor's decision to close Hagedorn, the board has been asking for documents supporting that decision, but with no success. State Sen. Mike Doherty said a commission or task force should take a closer look at the state's options. The bipartisan proposal that Doherty and Codey plan to send to Christie would restore $6.7 million in funding to Hagedorn and establishes a task force to study the impact of closing the facility. The budget resolution being proposed by Doherty and Codey calls for the establishment of a State Mental Health Facilities Evaluation Task Force with a minimum of five public hearings around the state. The task force would evaluate short- and long-term needs of current patients, assess the availability of appropriate support services in the community.

Read the full report:
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20100606/NEWS/100606006/Hagedorn-trustees-set-emergency-public-meeting-on-hospital-s-threatened-closing-

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Pleas to save Hagedorn Hospital

My brother is currently a patient at Hagedorn. I have seen firsthand the wonderful, caring work of the staff there. Unfortunately, I have also seen what conditions in an overcrowded, poorly run facility are like during his prior hospitalization at the old Greystone. The stated savings of $7 million is a mere blip in the huge deficit the governor is addressing. The human cost, however, will be monumental.

Read more:
http://blog.nj.com/ledgerletters/2010/06/pleas_to_save_hagedorn_hospita.html

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Community mental health saves lives and tax dollars

State budget planners have a daunting task. How do they save tax dollars without throwing to the wolves society's most vulnerable? One strategy is to invest in more programs like community mental health, which not only pays for itself and returns to the taxpayer $1 billion each year in savings, but also each year improves the quality of life for 500,000 New Jersey residents.

Read the Trenton Times Op Ed:
http://www.nj.com/opinion/times/oped/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1275975972316240.xml&coll=5http://www.nj.com/opinion/times/oped/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1275975972316240.xml&coll=5
  
  

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