Taunton State Hospital, home to 169 mentally ill patients, will close this year

By David Abel, Globe Staff

After more than 150 years of housing mentally ill patients, Taunton State Hospital will close its doors and its remaining patients will be sent to other facilities by the end of the year, state officials said today.

The closure will help pay for the opening of a new hospital for the mentally ill in Worcester, which is scheduled to open this summer and will likely house some of the 169 patients still in Taunton, state mental health officials said.

Other patients will move into their own apartments or the equivalent of group homes linked to an array of support services, under the state’s Community First program, the officials said.

“We understand that this announcement will impact the community of Taunton,” Governor Deval Patrick said in a statement. “By closing the Taunton facility, we are maintaining this administration’s commitment to Community First.”

But advocates for the mentally ill and officials from the nurses union yesterday decried the closure, noting Taunton is one of six remaining state mental hospitals and that the system would have a net loss of 125 beds since fiscal 2010.

“This is a cold-hearted and dangerous decision that will have devastating consequences for the mentally ill in our state,” said Karen Coughlin, a nurse at Taunton State and vice president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association. “There are not, and have not been, enough beds or services in the system for years. This decision will only exacerbate a long-standing crisis.”

State officials said 124 of the beds will be transferred to the new Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital and 25 will be moved to Tewksbury State Hospital.

After the hospital closes, 626 beds will remain in the state mental health system, down from 831 beds in fiscal 2007, state officials and advocates said.

Department of Mental Health Commissioner Barbara Leadholm, who has seen her budget cut by about 8 percent over the past three years, said many of the patients who have been discharged as a result of fewer beds available are now living independently with supports or with supervision in the community.

She noted that many of the patients remaining at what in 1854 was called the Taunton Lunatic Hospital would likely have been discharged before the end of the year. On average, 70 percent of state mental health patients are released within 180 days, she said.

“We’re maintaining the same capacity to meet the needs of people who require very intensive services,” she said.

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @davabel.