DPH to hold meeting on UMass psych bed closure

UMass Memorial Health Care has notified the state of plans to reduce the number of beds in its 28-bed inpatient acute psychiatric unit on the university campus in Worcester to make way for additional medical-surgical beds.

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By Savannah Donohue

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health will hold a public meeting at 4 p.m. Thursday at St. George Cathedral on the proposed closure of 13 inpatient psychiatric beds by UMass Memorial Medical Center.

UMass Memorial Health Care plans to convert 13 out of 28 the inpatient psychiatric beds to medical-surgical beds at the 8 East wing at its university campus.

UMass Memorial Health Care has contacted TaraVista Behavioral Health Center in Devens to provide beds to impacted patients. In addition, UMass Memorial Health Care noted California-based Signature Healthcare Services LLC is in the process of opening a hospital in Westborough.

Opponents of the plan, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said the psychiatric unit is nearly always full and psychiatric patients often have to wait several hours to several days for a bed as is, and that alternatives would be unable to provide the same level of care as UMass Memorial Medical Center.

The Worcester City Council unanimously voted to oppose the closure earlier this month. Hospital spokesperson Anthony Berry said earlier this year that the additional medical-surgical beds are needed to serve the growing community.