Union plan met with resistance

LYNN – A Union Hospital executive weathered criticism from city councilors and residents Tuesday for plans to expand psychiatric care at Union Hospital, but at least one resident said the city needs local mental health care.Jamie Loud said she has been hospitalized 15 times for mental health care, including eating disorders, in hospitals outside the city because she cannot get care in Lynn.”Do I look dangerous to you? You really don’t know what you are talking about. There are already mentally ill people in Lynn not receiving services,” Loud said.But Ward 1 resident Jocelyn Almy-Testa said Partners’ plans to increase mental health care at Union have serious implications.”There are dangers that come along with mental health. Dangers that are going to be walking out of that hospital. This is not the best place for this,” she said.Partners HealthCare announced a week ago that 83 surgical beds in Union will be transitioned to Salem Hospital over a three- to four-year period and psychiatry beds in Union will be increased during the same time period from 38 beds to more than 100 beds.”We are fully committed to maintaining emergency services on the Union campus for as far down the road as we can see,” said North Shore Medical’s President Robert Norton.But he added that the level of emergency services provided at Union Hospital will be finalized following reviews and discussions with state health officials.That promise did not dampen councilors’ and residents’ objections to psychiatry services increasing at Union.”We’re tired of Lynn becoming a dumping ground. You’re going to hear from a lot of people that we don’t want this,” Ward 2 Councilor William Trahant Jr. said to applause from audience members.More than 80 people attended the City Hall meeting called by Council President Timothy Phelan. North Shore Medical Center has scheduled a meeting for the Lynnfield Street hospital’s neighbors on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the hospital.Partners, said Norton, is “stepping up to the plate” to provide increased psychiatric services for an increasing number of mental health patients.But the proposed increased focus on psychiatric services angered Lou and Donna Amico, who live a block from Union Hospital. They are already irate about hospitals and patients smoking near neighbors’ homes.”We’re opposed to changes at the hospital: It’s not the right time or place,” Lou Amico said.Norton said Partners’ plan to shift the focus of several north suburban hospitals’ care, including Union’s, “is not a done deal” and added: “Nothing in this plan gives up on care for any of the people we serve.”He said a 2012 “health needs assessment” pinpointed mental health and substance abuse services as “a top priority” as well as “…access to primary, specialty and urgent care?””The origin of this plan comes from a national demand on the way we provide health care to meet the patient’s true medical needs,” Norton said.He stopped short of replying to Phelan’s request for a commitment for a Lynn city official to “have a voice and vote at the table” as decisions about the hospital plan are made.”I’m frustrated,” said Phelan, who added that hospital physicians have complained to him about a systematic plan over the last several years to pull services out of Union Hospital.”This is not a decision that was made in a vacuum,” he added.Councilor Daniel Cahill asked Norton to explain safety implications associated with North Shore’s plans to increase psychiatric care at Union.”How will these folks interact with our neighborhoods?” Cahill asked Norton, who replied that North Shore will “provide inpatient and outpatient care.””We believe we have more than adequate security there,” said Norton.Councilors Peter Capano and Brendan Crighton criticized hospital officials for the way in which the Union Hospital changes were unveiled. Capano said long-time local oversight organization Lynn Health Task Force was “blindsided” by Partners’ announcement.”It’s not right the way y