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One environmentalist's thoughts on the Dix debacle

I know it's a cause near and dear to the hearts of many of my environmentally minded friends here in Raleigh, but the campaign to convert the Dorothea Dix Hospital property near downtown into a park hasn't gotten a great deal of attention here at Raleigh Eco News.

That's because I've been conflicted about the proposal.

On the one hand, I do think we need to increase public open space in our fast-growing city -- and there's a certain poetic justice in converting an old mental hospital into a health-enhancing place like a park. After all, science has found that access to nature via parks plays a critical if still not fully understood role in human health and development. Some think that addiction, for example, may sometimes represent an attempt to fill the void left by the loss of contact with nature.

But on the other hand -- maybe because I'm a social worker by training -- I can't help but worry about how we will meet the local community's mental health care needs. Deepening my worry was the News & Observer's outstanding recent series on the state's botched mental health privatization effort, which introduced us to people like Johnnie P. Yarborough:

In 2006, the 47-year-old Yarborough, suffering from bipolar disorder and addicted to crack cocaine, was so desperate for treatment that he beat on the doors of state-run Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh and a private mental hospital, seeking to be admitted.

Because of the 2001 reform law, treatment once offered by Wake County's mental health agency had become spotty or nonexistent. Yarborough was admitted to Dix 14 times during 2006, but never for more than a few days. He began fearing that he might commit a murder. He's drug-free now and working, but that's thanks to the nonprofit Raleigh Rescue Mission, where he now lives.

It's bad enough for someone in need of health care to be reduced to pounding on a hospital door. But now we want to eliminate even that lousy option and force ill Raleigh residents to go to a new facility 30 miles away, Central Regional Hospital in Butner.

And as it turns out, there are still serious problems at Central Regional. With patients expected to start arriving by the middle of next month, the $120 million facility still has a host of safety hazards -- including hundreds of door handles and bathroom handrails that present risks for the suicidal, as the N&O reported this week.

State mental health workers rallied today against the Dix closure plans, calling them a "disaster in the making," according to the paper:

"This is our Katrina,” said Beverly Moriarity, a nurse who helps coordinate staffing at Dix. "This is a train wreck waiting to happen. The administration knows it’s going to be a catastrophe and they’re moving ahead anyway. I don’t understand it."

State employees say they're worried about expected shortfalls in the numbers of nurses, doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists needed at the facility. They're also concerned about the readiness of the staff that has been hired, since their orientation consisted of a two-hour walk through one floor of the building and a packet of instructions to read at home. To date, they have received no training on using the computer system, securing medications, or evacuating in case of fire.

They're also rattled by the long commute to Butner -- especially given the rising price of fuel:

"Half of my salary would go to gas," said Floyd Mims, a health care technician. The starting pay for his job is less than $11 an hour.

I think it's become clear that closing Dix doesn't make sense from a strictly human perspective. But neither do I think it makes sense from a broader ecological perspective to demolish a local treatment facility and force patients and staff to commute to a new one 30 miles away.

My dream is that Raleigh's conservationists, state mental health workers, mental health advocates, and mental health patients and their families would join forces to keep Dix open -- and turn it into a world-class park. With a campus of more than 300 acres, there's room for both. Let's make Dix into a place that continues to care for patients in need and also enhances the well being of the wider community.

(Dix property photo by Karen Tam from Friends of Dix Web site)

NCCU hosts green jobs forum this week

The Grassroots Energy Alliance is holding a public forum in Durham this week spotlighting employment opportunities in the sustainable building industry. Titled "Green Jobs Now!," the event will take place on Thursday, April 10 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at N.C. Central's Mary M. Townes Science Building.

The event will feature presentations on the outlook for green jobs in the state and a keynote by NCCU professor and landscape architect Yasmin Fozard, who specializes in the inner-city living environment. There will also be smaller discussion groups about meeting the growing demand for sustainability and the need for a new energy economy.

A coalition that includes the N.C. Waste Awareness & Reduction Network, Students United for a Responsible Global Environment, N.C. Fair Share and N.C. Interfaith Power & Light, the Alliance describes its mission as working with residents of Durham, Wake, Orange and Chatham counties

on positive programs and policy to counter the threat of climate change, to promote responsible energy efficiency and renewable energy programs for our region and the state, and to to improve the capacity of our region to harness the new green economy. To accomplish these goals, we put special emphasis on involving the voices and organizations of students, people of color, and people of faith.

For more details on the forum and directions, click here.