Some Greenfield residents are alarmed that Baystate Health plans to close three mental health Units once they build a new centralized behavioral health hospital.
Close to 100 people attended an informational forum in Greenfield Thursday night.
Once the new hospital is designed, built and open, Baystate plans to close inpatient mental health units in Greenfield, Westfield, and Palmer.
While the new, larger capacity hospital is still years away, there’s concern about Baystate health partnering with a national company that specializes in in-patient psychiatric care.
“The integration of a for-profit motivation, a for-profit provider as the manager of this unit is very alarming to me,” said David Roulston of Greenfield. “There’s no room in the treatment of seriously ill people for a profit motive.”
Baystate Health told 22News that once their new hospital is built, they’ll continue to provide outpatient services and partial hospitalization programs in the communities.
