Chicago's Mental Health Centers on Chopping Block

By Hunter Clauss in News on Jan 21, 2009 8:30PM

Some of the city’s most vulnerable residents may be worse off thanks to a plan to close as many as five mental health centers. The Daley administration says the closings will take place on Feb. 1 and are due to a drop in state funding. Dr. Terry Mason, Daley’s health commissioner, told the Tribune that the patients from the closed centers could be relocated to any of the seven remaining ones. He also added that all 12 centers could handle about 6,500 patients.

The Tribune reports that the closing centers could be:

• Back of the Yards, 4313 S. Ashland Ave.
• Beverly/Morgan Park, 1987 W. 111th St.
• Greater Grand/Mid-South, 4314 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
• Woodlawn, 6337 S. Woodlawn Ave.
• North River center, 5801 N. Pulaski Road

How this fits into Daley’s plan to end homelessness by 2012 is anybody’s guess. But Badonna Reingold of the Community Mental Health Board of Chicago told the Trib the city’s math isn’t adding up.

“A lot of people are going to be left in the cold,” she said. "If the city can support the [2016 Olympic bid], they can come up with some money for the most vulnerable people.”

Photo by AP