Workers Rally To Save Kingsboro Psychiatric Center
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Workers from the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center rallied Wednesday to save the facility from being shut down.
They were joined by members of the Public Employees Federation to protest outside the office of Stephen Berger, the chairman of the governor's Medicaid redesign team, which recommended closing Kingsboro.
Officials say the state will cut many of the inpatient beds in Brooklyn and send the rest to South Beach Psychiatric Center on Staten Island.
"It's unconscionable to think that people from Brooklyn that have mental health issues are going to make it to Staten Island to get care. It's not going to happen. They are going to be on the streets of Brooklyn," said Jemma Marie Hanson of the Public Employees Federation.
"We have 265 beds and he is trying to take 150 of them and send them to Staten Island. The other 115 I guess will miraculously get ready, get well," said Bridget Davis of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center.
The state is planning to close Kingsboro over the next nine to 12 months.