Vermont's psychiatric hospital license renewed with strict conditions

By Shay Totten | Vermont Guardian

Posted December 14, 2005

BURLINGTON — The state psychiatric hospital may stay open another six months as long as it meets strict conditions to ensure patients are safe and properly cared for, the governing body that licenses Vermont hospitals said Wednesday.

Mental health advocates from around the state made impassioned pleas to the Board of Health to more closely scrutinize the improvements being made at the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury.

“The people of Vermont have a right to expect that a license from the Board of Health means something,” said Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, a member of the legislative Mental Health Oversight Committee. She is also a staff member of Vermont Psychiatric Survivors, a consumer-based advocacy group.

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