It has been two years and four mental health commissioners since Tropical Storm Irene inundated and effectively closed the Vermont State Hospital.
As a new regionalized mental health system takes shape in its wake, psychiatric patients with severe disorders are waiting longer in emergency rooms and correctional facilities than they have since the 54-bed hospital closed in August 2011. This trend has worsened over the past two years, and physicians across Vermont agree patients waiting in these conditions receive care that is inadequate or nonexistent.