November 12, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Candace Ouillette Gaumond @ (413) 599-4785 or cgaumond@galecandaras.org

CANDARAS GETS $3.5 MILLION FOR PROVIDENCE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOSPITAL IN SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET

SPRINGFIELD – State Representative Gale D. Candaras (D-Wilbraham) secured $3.5 million in the House supplemental budget for the cash-strapped Providence Behavioral Health Hospital.

“The work of the Sisters of Providence Behavioral Health Hospital is too critical to be chronically under-funded. Medicaid cuts in particular have forced the hospital to struggle on against almost impossible odds.” said Candaras.

The Providence Behavioral Health Hospital is operated by the Sisters of Providence and located in Holyoke. The Hospital employs almost 500 people, many of whom live in Candaras’ district. The behavioral health facility has a 200 bed unit for adults, adolescents, and children, a K-12 school, and a methadone clinic, which dispenses the drug to upwards of 1,000 people per day.

“This is the only remaining facility of its kind west of 128. There is no DMH hospital in this part of the state, and with the closure of the Municipal Hospital, the people of western Mass have literally nowhere else to turn if they need behavioral health services. In particular, there are no child psychiatric beds anywhere else in the western region of the state. Years ago, we had a choice of facilities if we needed a placement for a child and, now, this one little hospital is all that’s left,” said Candaras, an attorney who, in the past, worked on many cases involving children with special behavioral problems.

Candaras also applauds the efforts of Representatives Michael Kane, Tom Petrolati, and Dan Keenan, for their assistance in supporting this important initiative.