TURNERS FALLS — Concerns regarding the planned closure of the Farren Care Center, a long-term care facility for patients with serious mental health conditions, were aired at a public hearing Wednesday night with the state Department of Public Health.
The Farren, located on Montague City Road, is set to close by the end of the year, as part of a reshuffling of ownership and human resources of the Farren and a similar facility in Holyoke, Mount Saint Vincent Care Center.
Opponents of the plan have criticized the timing, noting that in a pandemic patients and their families can’t seriously consider moving to a different facility. Some have asked the state to either stop the reorganization plan or at least delay it.
Concerns have also been raised regarding the future of the property, and the economic impact of another relatively large employer leaving the area.
The problems with the Farren, as presented by its owner, Trinity Health of New England, are that the building is so old that the renovations required to bring it up to modern standards would be overly expensive, and that a shortage of qualified workers in the area has made staffing difficult.
“No matter how we tried to change the reality we faced, the Farren simply cannot provide the care its residents deserve without a stable facility and adequate staff,” Jan Hamilton-Crawford, president of Trinity Health of New England Senior Communities, said in the hearing Wednesday.
The proposed solution, per a deal pending approval from the state Department of Public Health, is that Trinity would totally remove itself from the Farren, and a company called iCare Health Network — which has been contracted by Trinity to manage the Farren since January — would take over Mount Saint Vincent and offer to transfer all Farren residents there.
The two big issues — patients’ welfare and community impact — had both been discussed earlier, in less official forums, but on Wednesday they were formally submitted for DPH consideration.
On patient welfare, numerous family members, caregivers and former employees of the Farren spoke highly of the facility, and expressed doubt that the level of care at the Farren would be replicated elsewhere.
David Roulston, a Greenfield lawyer who has served as guardian for many Farren patients over the past 30 years, emphasized the poor timing and requested that the DPH halt the closure until the pandemic is less severe.
“This is terrible timing,” he said. “Couldn’t be worse.”
The community impact was emphasized by Montague Town Administrator Steve Ellis, state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and state Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Sunderland.
Comerford noted that the closure could potentially coincide with a still-pending plan to close Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s 22-bed mental health unit, also known as East Spoke.
“This is a tremendously concerning trend in our region,” she said.
If the closure does proceed, Ellis, Comerford and Blais have discussed terms with Trinity, which the company has indicated it is open to, Ellis said. These terms would include severance pay to employees, funding a redevelopment study for the property, providing town officials with a decommissioning plan, and maintaining the grounds and facility until a transition to a new owner is successful.
Yet Ellis made it clear that the town would still prefer for the Farren to remain in Montague. For years Montague has lobbied the state to invest in the facility’s needed upgrades, but nothing has come of it, he said.
“We believe the state needs to invest, and should invest, and should help turn course on this set of decisions in order to maintain that employment base for the long-term health of Montague and Franklin County,” Ellis said.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.