MONTPELIER — The Vermont Senate is slated to take up final approval of a bill to retool the state’s mental health system following flooding from Tropical Storm Irene last August that closed the state hospital in Waterbury.
The Senate action, set for Wednesday, comes against the backdrop of last Friday’s announcement by the administration of Gov. Peter Shumlin that 80 employees of the state hospital would be laid off.
Officials say it could be two or three years before a new, smaller hospital is built as planned in Berlin.
Shumlin says it doesn’t make sense to keep workers on the payroll who have nowhere to go.
The Senate bill would create several smaller facilities around the state to replace the 54-bed Waterbury hospital.
Shumlin says urgent action is needed.
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