State: Tinley Pk. Mental Health Center closing

• Reprints

State Rep. Maggie Crotty (D-Oak Forest) speaks during a State Facility Closure Act hearing, regarding the Tinley Park Mental Health Center, at Georgios Banquets in Orland Hills. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media

What would happen to the land?

Closing Tinley Park’s Mental Health Center frees up roughly 280 acres for development, Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki said.

But there are concerns about asbestos in the buildings, two dumping areas near the railroad tracks, and the fact that the land is in Cook County, which has higher property and sales tax rates than Will County land which lies on the south side of 183rd Street.

“If this was 2007, we’d probably have people beating on our door,” Zabrocki said. “I don’t see that happening. Development will be difficult for this piece of property in this economy.”

State Rep. Al Riley (D-Olympia Fields) agreed.

“A lot of people are saying the state is doing this to open the land. Who knows? There may be something to that, but I don’t think so because this economy is not all that great. It’s not like there will be developers there tomorrow,” Riley said.

Attracting retail there would be hard, Zabrocki said, because Will County property taxes are about 60 percent less than in Cook County.

Article Extras

Updated: February 21, 2012 8:46AM

The state is closing the Tinley Park Mental Health Center in July as part of a cost-cutting move that will lead to more patients undergoing treatment at local hospitals and other facilities, Gov. Pat Quinn announced Thursday.

The closure in Tinley Park and another center in Springfield are expected to save the state $19.8 million annually, according to officials.

It costs approximately $20.6 million each year to run the Tinley Park site, a 75-bed psychiatric hospital built in 1958, the governor’s office said. It has 50 patients, due to staffing shortages. Savings after closure will be $8.1 million, the governor’s office said.

Tinley Park accepts patients for acute care, 24 hours to 21 days, said Brie Callahan, a spokeswoman for Quinn.

State lawmakers approved funding in November to keep the center’s doors open through June 30, the end of the fiscal year, but state officials cautioned then that it likely would be closed by early July.

Now, the current plan calls for Tinley Park to eventually halt admissions for “people to complete their care by early July,” Callahan said.

While Quinn touted the move as one aimed at increasing options for patients, some local mental health advocates and lawmakers quickly balked at the plan.

Lynda DeLaforgue, co-director of Citizen Action/Illinois, called on Quinn to rethink closing the Tinley Park Mental Health Center.

The planned closing, “is yet another attack on the healthcare safety net in an area of Illinois that has no trauma center, limited public transportation, and a growing population of individuals who live either, below, or at the poverty level,” DeLaforgue said in a prepared statement. “To cease services to the mentally ill in the Southland area can only contribute to increased violence and other community perils that come with a lack of public health infrastructure which will most certainly be compounded if Tinley Park is shuttered.”

Quinn dubbed his plan — which also includes shuttering the Jacksonville Development Center by early July — the Active Community Care Transition plan. He said it would increase the number of people with developmental disabilities and mental health conditions living in community care settings across Illinois.

“My administration is committed to increasing community care options and improving the quality of life for people with developmental disabilities and mental health conditions,” Quinn said in a prepared statement. “The approach we are taking will allow for the safe transition of care for some of our most vulnerable citizens to community care settings.”

But U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-2nd) said the decision was, “another example of our government balancing its budget on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens.” Jackson urged Quinn to keep at least part of the Tinley Park facility open.

In a letter to Quinn earlier this week, Jackson wrote, “the Tinley Park Mental Health Center is a valuable and necessary asset to the Chicago Southland.” Jackson also expressed concern for the 175 workers losing their jobs.

Nevertheless, talks are under way to arrange new care options for patients, Callahan said.

“We’re building out agreements with hospitals and other smaller care facilities so there are beds and continued care for those folks who need it,” Callahan said.

The state will invest the $9.8 million saved from the closure into providing care for patients at private facilities, she said. Illinois officials are talking with hospitals “and other community providers to develop additional beds,” she said.

She noted that because the closure is not until July, the state “is in the middle of negotiations” with hospitals that she declined to identify.

Mike Maggio, spokesman for Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, said he was unaware of any negotiations with the state.

Jim Sibley, of Palos Community Hospital, said he would look into it. Calls to Little Company of Mary and Advocate South Suburban hospitals were not returned.

State Rep. Al Riley (D-Olympia Fields) serves on the bipartisan Commission of Government Forecasts and Accountability that agreed with public sentiment and voted last year to keep all the centers open. He noted that hospitals and health care providers repeatedly testified at hearings that they had no room for more patients. Families and law enforcement officials pleaded to keep Tinley Park open.

“Did the governor’s office forget that? I really think they jumped the gun on this one,” Riley said. “This does not make any sense. We have to bring this to a halt.”

The General Assembly reconvenes on Jan. 31.

“These are individuals with serious mental health conditions, which is why we want to provide as many options as possible,” she said.

Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki said he hopes the state’s plan for patients works as well as another implemented when the Howe Developmental Center was closed by the state a few years ago.

“From my understanding, they had a good plan for when they closed Howe. I know many people were concerned when Howe closed, The feedback I heard was most people were satisfied with the orderly closing of Howe,” Zabrocki said.

“I hope it’s the same for the Tinley Park Mental Health Center. They can’t just close the doors and not give people a place to go,” Zabrocki said.