Employees Forced to Relocate PEF Decries Closing Of Drug Treatment Center

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow JOBS ON THE LINE: Assistant Counselor Ruth Henriquez and Counselor William Lancaster are two of the Manhattan Psychiatric Alcohol Treatment Center employees whose jobs are at risk due to proposed state budget cuts.

As part of Governor Paterson's efforts to close a $14-billion budget deficit through 2010, the Manhattan Addiction Treatment Center on Wards Island, which sees 800 clients a year, will be shut down March 31, forcing 35 employees to transfer elsewhere or lose their jobs.

The workers, who are members of the Public Employees Federation, were notified of the closing of the 52- bed facility in December. "They were stunned; they were absolutely stunned," said Vernetta Chesimard, a regional coordinator for PEF.

A Pioneering Facility

The Manhattan Addiction Treatment Center provided inpatient rehabilitation for alcohol and substance abusers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The center was noteworthy for trailblazing programs devoted solely to the Hispanic community and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

The Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services said the state could save $4.6 million by closing the facility. "It was a very difficult choice, but it was unavoidable because of the fiscal crisis," said OASAS spokeswoman Dianne Henk. "It has no reflection on the Manhattan ATC. It has been stellar. It was a cost savings that we knew we could make and maintain."

The facility has been without patients since Feb. 20 to ensure that no one was transferred in the middle of their treatment. Ten to 12 PEF members remained at the facility as its final days of life lingered. Staffers will be transferred to other facilities, but for some that might make for a difficult commute, according to Ms. Chesimard. One single parent who worked on Wards Island now has to travel daily to Staten Island from The Bronx. Another relocated from upstate for a job on Wards Island but was recently laid off.

Ms. Henk said the state plans to replicate some of the programming that attracted even staffers from afar.

PEF: Less-Reliable Alternatives

The Governor's proposal promises to redistribute the facility's clients to the four other ATCs in the city or nonprofit provider programs. PEF sources said that seven hospitals, three of them in New York City, were recently accused of stealing more than $50 million in Medicaid payments for detox services that were never provided.

PEF also asserted that the state should not be spending money on contractors, as they are doing at Edgecombe Correctional facility, at the same time it is closing facilities. "The state should evaluate those contracts to determine if it would be more costeffective to use the Manhattan ATC employees at those facilities rather than the current consultant employees," stated a union flyer. Ms. Chesimard said $5 million was spent on the contractors over five years.

Ms. Henk responded that those contractors were hired under a binding contract. Ms. Chesimard contended that the state had a 30-day opt out clause.

Even though pink slips will be few, Ms. Chesimard said her members are still smarting from the transfers. "There is a ripple effect," she said. "When somebody decides to change positions, somebody else is going to get bumped."

The state maintained that in order to keep the treatment center it would need to relocate it to a new building, which would cost even more. Ms. Chesimard saw it another way: "We understand there is an economic crisis, but we are also concerned that the deficit is being addressed on the backs of our members who are loyal, dedicated and qualified."