TRENTON — The sister of a Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital patient asked lawmakers Tuesday not to close the institution, a move that’s expected to save the state $9 million in the state’s fiscal 2012 budget. “This could be my sister’s third hospital closure. When it’s done wrong, it can be very dangerous,” Mary Zdanowicz of Virginia told the Assembly Budget...
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Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital, located in Lebanon Township, faces possible closure under a plan by Gov. Christie.TRENTON — The sister of a Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital patient asked lawmakers Tuesday not to close the institution, a move that’s expected to save the state $9 million in the state’s fiscal 2012 budget.
“This could be my sister’s third hospital closure. When it’s done wrong, it can be very dangerous,” Mary Zdanowicz of Virginia told the Assembly Budget Committee at a hearing that drew dozens of advocates for health issues.
Gov. Christie’s $29.4 billion proposed spending plan does not name which one of five state hospitals would be shut down. Hagedorn, a 310-bed hospital in Hunterdon County, was identified for closure last year by Christie and the Department of Human Services. Employees and advocates rallied and the Legislature created a panel to study the potential impact if Hagedorn’s patients, most of them geriatric, were transferred to other institutions or community-based housing.
The panel’s report, submitted to administration officials last month, came to no conclusion about Hagedorn’s future. It recommended that one hospital, which was not identified, be closed by June.
Zdanowicz said her sister, who is in her 50s, initially was treated at Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital in Monmouth County, which closed in 1998. The sister next went to Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Atlantic County, an operation where crowding, patient injuries and crime led to a Department of Justice investigation and a state-ordered restructuring plan.
“She was hurt a number of times,” Zdanowicz said of her sister’s experience at Ancora. “Whenever I got a call from the 609 area code it just made my stomach roll over.”
Hagedorn was a welcome change, she said.
“She smiles and she’s doing well.”
Previous coverage:
• Sen. Codey criticizes Newark boarding house where Hagedorn patients could be placed
• Task force submits inconclusive report on closing Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital
• Critics see 'clear bias' in task force report for closing Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital
• Public has say on plan to close Hagedorn Hospital, N.J.'s smallest public mental institution
• Hagedorn supporters fear state's latest move is a step toward closure
