Bills to Stop MHI Closures Still Alive in Legislature

A bill that would stall efforts to close the Mental Health Institutes in Mount Pleasant and Clarinda is still alive and well in the Iowa legislature.

Mt. Pleasant Democratic State Senator Rich Taylor spoke to KBUR this week to provide an update on the situation. Senate File 402 remains in the House right now, after being passed in the Senate, and is expected to be discussed in subcommittee soon.

“This bill will force the Department of Human Services to continue accepting patients through June 30th of this year and develop a plan for community services before they close down any MHI’s in the state,” Taylor told KBUR.

In early March, around three dozen employees from the Mount Pleasant MHI received layoff notices. Layoff notices for workers at the Clarinda Mental Health Institute are expected to go out in April.

Taylor says that the workers in Mount Pleasant are less upset about losing their jobs, and more upset because they don’t believe adequate care exists in the private sector for all of the patients the MHI’s serve.

Governor Terry Branstad is moving those close both facilities on the recommendation of Department of Human Services Director Chuck Palmer. Both claim that the care provided at the MHI’s is “archiac”.