A coalition of groups hand-delivered a letter to the office of Gov. Bev Perdue Wednesday urging her not to close Dorothea Dix Hospital.
The letter — signed as representing the members of the Wake County Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the N.C. Public Service Workers Union and other groups — expressed dismay at plans to largely shut down the Raleigh psychiatric hospital by the end of the year, even as the state’s mental health system remains in crisis.
The letter lists five primary concerns:
Fifty percent of state psychiatric beds have been closed since the reform plan of 2001 and the central region of the state lacks sufficient community-based mental health services.
