The announcement of the closure of Allentown State Hospital was made today. I have many thoughts regarding the closure. Most of them are concerns for my friends and the people I know who reside at the hospital. They are not just names on a list. I was down at the Purple Rooster (canteen) this week having lunch with someone and another patient talked about her discharge and how scared she was about leaving. I hope and pray she has the support she wants. I hope this forum can be a place to share thoughts about the closure.

For more information on the State Hospital Closure, click on this link http://pmhca.org/?page=news_detail&id=576, also found in the News on this website.  It contains the news release, Frequently Asked Questions, and Talking Points.  Please check it out for more information.  Thank you.

I don't know if I remember a "faqs" seet that was so inclusive of good information from former state hospital closures. It is included on the links. This will definitely be important to informing our discussions on what advise and resources are needed for this to be a responosible closure and successful benefit to individuals at ASH! I think someone ought to go in there and offer free PMHCA membership to everyone currently going through this.

What would be some helpful things that PMHCA membership could do to let people know that they're not alone and there are lots of us out here who care about what they will be going through?

Today, was a very interesting day. I started off by attending what's called "Peer Connections". It's a day when community providers come into the state hospital (ASH) and meet with patients, hand out brochures and answer questions. One of my peers came up and invited me to the hospital picnic for M6. So after peer connections, I got to spend some time with her, she was so excited. We talked over hotdogs, about where she wants to live in the community and I saw her smile when we talked about a pass next week. After the picnic, I met with a team of peer mentors and we had our pictures taken and I gave them a tour of the hospital grounds. But things were so much more different than they have ever been any other time I walked the grounds. This time, I held in the palm of my hands a set of keys, and not just any ordinary set of keys. It seemed like it represented a shift of some kind, both personally and culturally. I now have six eager individuals at various stages in their own recovery ready to embark on a new chapter in the history of ASH. Where we go from here, I'm not 100% sure, but I know that I am not alone because others have walked before me and they now offer support and wisdom. Thanks Pat, Nicole, Matt, Dan and Tom for your insight and support.