Tinley Park Mental Health Center tagged for closing Governor says: Congressman Jackson opposed

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Governor Quinns office announced last Thursday that he plans to close two state-run mental hospitals including Tinley Park Mental Health Center as part of budget savings and spending reductions. The closings will reportedly put over 500 people out of work and save the state about $20 million.
Governor Quinns office announced last Thursday that he plans to close two state-run mental hospitals including Tinley Park Mental Health Center as part of budget savings and spending reductions. The closings will reportedly put over 500 people out of work and save the state about $20 million.

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Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (2nd Dist.) has exerted that Tinley Park Mental Health Center is a valuable and necessary asset to the Chicago Southland and that the facility services mostly minorities who will have few choices for mental health treatment if it is closed.

The storied run of the Tinley Park Mental Health Center in south suburban Tinley Park may soon come to an end as Gov. Pat Quinn readies to shutter the facility.

Quinns office announced Thursday that he plans to close the state-run Tinley Park mental hospital, along with a facility in rural Jerseyville, Ill. for people with developmental disabilities. Overall, the state is looking to move 600 patients from state hospitals over the next two years, according to the governors office.

But one elected official is speaking out against the Tinley Park closure, urging Quinn to keep all or part of it open so that low-income and uninsured patients may continue to have a resource for mental health treatment.

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (2nd Dist.) sent a letter to the governor dated Jan. 16 expressing his deep concerns about closing Tinley Park Mental Health Center and selling the land to private investors. His letter came days before the public announcement of the planned closures.

The 2nd Congressional District representative said in the letter that the hospital is a valuable and necessary asset to the Chicago Southland. The Village of Tinley Park and the mental health hospital are both in the Democrats area.

Jackson said the facility services mostly minorities who will have few choices for mental health

treatment if the center is closed.

No health care facility in the area provides such extensive services to individuals who may pose a threat to themselves or society, the letter reads. I implore (Quinn) to search for alternatives that will provide health care services to needy people even while recognizing the tough economic times we live in.

Jackson, who is up for re-election this year, also cited concern for job loss with the facilitys closing.

The center also employs many of my constituents. The loss of these jobs would have devastating consequences on these employees and their families, Jackson said in the letter.

The governor is reportedly set to close the state centers as part of budget savings and spending reductions. The closing of both facilities would put over 500 people out of work and the state says it would save about $20 million.

The governors office claims the state looks forward to moving away from the type of setup both the Tinley Park and Jacksonville centers offer, and more toward a move to group home-like environments with patients in the community instead of on the outskirts.

Quinn's team said they chose the Jacksonville and TinleyPark facilities after ranking every other similar institution in Illinois on age, services, economic impact, likelihood of federal decertification and more.

The rankings pointed clearly at which ones should go, said Kevin Casey, director of the state's Division of Developmental Disabilities. He noted the Jacksonville center uses a coal-burning boiler for heat that costs $1.2 million a year and is so old that replacement parts must be manufactured from scratch.

Tinley Park hospital was built in 1958.

However, Quinn isn't releasing those rankings or the information used to calculate them.

No public hearings are planned either, said Quinn spokeswoman Brie Callahan. And there's no need for a review by the legislative panel responsible for issuing advisory opinions on proposals to close state facilities. Lawmakers and the public got their chance to speak out last year in a series of hearings on a broader Quinn closure plan that ended up being shelved, she said.

"Ultimately, this is an executive branch decision," Callahan added. "But we've done it with a lot of input from the General Assembly and a lot of responsiveness to the concerns they raised with us in the fall."

Still, Jackson holds out hope that a compromise can be reached.

By Rhonda Gillespie

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