Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy is starting to hit my local area. I am reminded of tropical storm Irene. I live in Vermont and we were hit pretty hard by Irene. I was in the Vermont State Hospital when Irene hit. I didn't know it was coming which made its occurrence a little surreal.

I can remember seeing a puddle form outside my window. There was a river a ways behind the hospital too. The rain kept falling and the puddle gradually got bigger and bigger. Eventually the river and puddle were joined. It was not too much longer before I started seeing things float by in the river.

The power went out that night. It came back on thanks to the generator. The generator ended up getting flooded out and the power went out again. We were moved out of our rooms to the top floor. The next day we were evacuated and brought to a different hospital. This would be the end of the line for the Vermont State Hospital. The governor of Vermont decided to not reopen VSH.

In the absence of VSH my state is trying a more progressive standpoint on treatment of mental illness. It is allotting more funding to outpatient programs in addition to having bed space at hospitals. They are constructing facilities to accommodate patients. However, the focus is being shifted towards reducing recidivism.

My opinion is that VSH was a bad place and I would like to say good riddance. The idea of supporting mental health consumers with outpatient services is good. It has been shown in the past that decreasing the number of hospital beds does displace would-be patients. These patients are often left in jails or turned away at hospitals. I hope that Vermont's more progressive policies are not too far ahead of what we are all ready for.