This week’s state announcement on the status of the Powell Building and the discontinuation of adult mental health services at Central State Hospital is another wake-up call to Baldwin County and all the more reason to remain vigilant in the work to create new job opportunities. It also opens the door to a number of unanswered questions to which the state must be pressed to respond.
The decision, announced Wednesday afternoon by the state's Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, leaves a number of issues to be addressed.
For instance, now that local adult mental health consumers will need to be transferred to facilities elsewhere in the state for treatment — such as Savannah or Augusta — who will foot the bill and to what extent will the transfer process impact local law enforcement? If local law enforcement personnel are charged with undertaking transfers, what was once a short drive to Central State Hospital then becomes a scenario that requires a local officer to be away from his or her day-to-day duties here in Baldwin County. Will these transfers create overcrowding at other mental health facilities within the state’s hospital network?
State officials contend that the aim is to provide comprehensive care for consumers, and we do not question this effort, but if other facilities reach capacity then where will local consumers go in the meantime?
An increased wait time on transfers could impact the local jail and hospital considerably, as adult consumers wait to get the treatment they need at other hospitals within the state’s network. State Sen. Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, noted during Thursday’s budget meeting with DBHDD Commissioner Frank Shelp that this has already been a concern, even during the CSH diversion over the past year.
Also, as the state looks to move more toward creating additional local resources for support based in community programming with regards to mental health, what form of oversight will be used to ensure that there will indeed be increased spending in this area to do so?
As Sen. Grant said Thursday: “if there is still not sufficient funding in community supports then the closure of hospital programming will just translate into more and more problems in the community and not a better quality of life for consumers.”
Wednesday’s announcement was another disappointing blow to Baldwin County in a series of events of the past 12 to 18 months. But its symbolism is perhaps even more telling. The end of operations in this building — an iconic structure largely known as the most recognizable symbol of Central State Hospital, represents one of the last chapters in Baldwin County’s state employment base heyday. As activity in the Powell Building slows in the coming weeks before its halt in March, the future of the facility is still on hold, and Baldwin County must now turn to finding new ways to put it to another use. Remaining vigilant, coming together to share ideas with the common goal of improving Baldwin County’s economic base, pressing state officials for more answers and continued commitment to providing community-level resources for mental health consumers and focusing on new, innovative ideas for creating and competing for local jobs is the best way to generate light at the end of the tunnel.
