Broome Mental Health Clinic Hearing Held

Dozens of people turned out for a meeting hosted by some Broome County Legislators to talk about the potential closing of the Broome County Mental Health Clinic.

The current county budget proposal calls for eliminating 20 jobs from the facility.

Supporters say the county has to look at hard decisions when it comes to cutting costs.

Most at the meeting expressed concern about what would happen to patients who really need mental health services. At times the comments became heated.

Another worry is the burgeoning number of mentally ill prisoners being held in the Broome County Jail.

Aside from issues regarding the patients and community safety, there are also concerns about the workers at the Binghamton site would be losing their jobs.

The County has said the number of patients using the facility and the amount of Medicaid reimbursements have dropped of substantially over the past several years.

There had been a proposal to put a freeze on any plans to close the clinic, but that idea failed in a legislative vote.