Hearing held on closing Rockford mental hospital

Illinois legislators grilled state officials about holes in the state budget Wednesday during a public hearing on the proposed closing of Singer Mental Health Center.

During the hearing at the University of Illinois School of Medicine in Rockford, Republican Sen. Dave Syverson said closing Singer before its time is going to create significant problems for the community.

“That’s why we are urging the governor to look at other areas of the budget to help fund these programs so we don’t take a hatchet approach when it comes to dealing with mental health services in the community,” he said.

Singer has a 76-bed capacity, a staff of 150 people and an annual operational budget of $13.6 million.

The Rockford Register Star reported Department of Human Services Secretary Michelle Saddler reiterated the decision to close the seven facilities is budget driven.

“We know if we don’t do something, we run out of money in March,” Saddler said. “We will have no more money within our budget to run these facilities. This is a budget-driven recommendation.”

Saddler said the closure plan is written, but plans for how to transition patients in closing facilities to community care “continues to evolve.”

Before the hearing, members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees blasted plans to close the facilities.

“This will have a devastating impact not only on the mentally ill served at (Singer) but also on the criminal justice system that’s already overcrowded,” AFSCME executive director Henry Bayer said “It will also devastate the local economy, which is already suffering from too much unemployment.”

Gov. Pat Quinn announced last month that he wants to close seven state facilities. However, an arbitrator ruled the governor cannot violate a no-layoff agreement he signed last year with a major union.

Quinn’s office said it would fight the ruling in court. The Democratic governor says lawmakers haven’t given him enough money to operate state government without making major cuts.

Closing seven facilities statewide would cut more than 1,900 jobs, with a reported savings of about $54.8 million.

Besides Singer, other facilities targeted for closing are Chester Mental Health Center, Tinley Park Mental Health Center, Jacksonville Developmental Center, Jack Mabley Developmental Center in Dixon, the Illinois Youth Center at Murphysboro and Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln.