Lawmakers Unhappy As N.C. Mental Health Reform Moving In Fits

WWAY Channel 3 (Raleigh, NC): Lawmakers were envisioning a change for the better when they dramatically overhauled the state's mental health system in 2001. Those changes haven't occurred as expected, and legislators are getting frustrated. The 2001 plan calls for the number of beds at traditional state mental hospitals to drop by nearly half to 938 by mid-2007, with patients shifted to local treatment programs. That process involves closing two state psychiatric hospitals and replacing them with one hospital. With the goal on the horizon, efforts to reduce the number of patients in the state psychiatric hospitals have been interrupted. The changes have been slowed by an unforeseen spike in hospital admissions, which experts believe is fueled by a poor economy, a growing population and new challenges from drugs such as methamphetamine. Also, local programs that oversee community coverage are facing potential spending cuts.