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The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Study: state hospitals, schools shouldn't close
A new state study has found that the easiest state mental health hospital to close is in Kerrville, while the easiest state school to shut down is in Austin .
However, the draft report lists several reasons not to close any state hospital or school, the San Antonio Express-News reported in Tuesday's editions.
The draft is of a feasibility study ordered from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission two years ago by lawmakers considering closing state mental health centers and schools in San Antonio and Austin .
A final report, scheduled for release next week, will not recommend specific closings, said commission spokeswoman Jennifer Harris.
"We're a long way off from saying any facility is going to be closed," she told the newspaper.
The nine-page draft analysis said the closing of the Kerrville State Hospital would cause the least stress of any of involving the state's 12 mental health hospitals. Waco , Rusk and El Paso follow.
The study said Kerrville 's distance from Austin and San Antonio weigh against the center, said state Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville.
Likewise, the Austin State School would be the least-stressful to close of the 12 state schools, followed by those in El Paso , San Antonio and Lufkin , the study found.
However, according to the draft, any shutdowns might not produced the "economic gain" lawmakers hope for.
One factor cited is the amount of bonded debt that would have to be paid off before the complexes could be sold off, but there were others.
"The age of the buildings corresponds with high levels of asbestos in the construction," the draft stated. Also, the often-remote locations might be unattractive to prospective buyers.
"The bottom line is that no state hospital will be closed in the foreseeable future, and this useless, shortsighted study was a wasted effort," Hilderbran told the newspaper.
Meanwhile, a state advocacy group, the Mental Health Association in Texas , is to release a report Tuesday of its own study. That study found that Texas lags behind other states in mental health funding, the Express-News reported.
The study found that Texas loses $17 billion a year in economic productivity lost to mental illness. It states that chronic underfunding of mental health services also means more mentally ill people crowding prisons, jails, emergency rooms and the streets.
The association wants the Legislature to reverse recent funding cuts and increase the amount of mental health care the state provides.