by Chance Prigge
THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

The process of converting Farmingtonís old hospital into an adult mental health hospital is in the very preliminary stages.

Nothing has been finalized, but state officials are looking at turning the unused hospital on the Trinity Care Center site into a 16-bed facility.

ìIím not even sure I would call it a possibility,î said Rod Kornrumpf, the regional operator for the Minnesota Department of Human Servicesí state-operated services.

St. Francis Health Services purchased the Trinity Healthcare campus last year. It kept the nursing home and senior apartment complex operational but found no use for the empty hospital.

The hospitalís owner and the state both have to look at the site and decide what they want to do with it, Kornrumpf said. If theyíre both in agreement that it would be a good site for an adult mental health hospital, other parties would be brought in.

ìWe would want to meet with the city, the county, local residents,î Kornrumpf said.

One person who is strongly against a mental health hospital coming to the site is Anna Achtenberg, owner of the day care center, Annaís Bananas, which is in the old clinic building on the site and connected to the hospital. The day care center moved to the site in January and has a lease of four-and-a-half more years.

Achtenberg said she was shocked and horrified to find out the state was considering the site for a mental hospital. She said she has personal connections to people who have been affected by mental disabilities but that her main priority is to think of the children at her business.

ìMy main concern is with the safety of the children,î she said.

Achtenberg said she has received hundreds of phone calls from concerned parents and community members since an article ran in the Pioneer Press. She said sheís already received word from some parents who said they would pull their children from the day care center if the mental health hospital came.

ìI think common sense dictates that these two places donít belong next to each other,î she said.

From the information she has received, Achtenberg said the state has not alleviated her concerns about the childrenís or her staff membersí safety. Kornrumpf said violent and dangerous sex offenders would continue to be sent to the St. Peter and Moose Lake treatment centers and not the Farmington facility.

The state has not set a deadline for the possible purchase or reconstruction of the site.

The reason a spotlight is even on this project is because Farmington is the only prospective site, so far, for a Dakota County facility and because the stateís Department of Human Services wants to focus on regional mental health hospitals as opposed to sending patients to scattered facilities. Patients in Dakota County, for example, currently go to the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center.

The county is responsible for the cost of transporting patients to and from the Anoka facility, a time and financial burden the county wouldnít have to deal with if there was a hospital in Farmington. Dakota County had 22 patients in the Anoka facility as of last week, Kornrumpf said.

The personal benefits, officials say, are the main reason for bringing a mental health hospital to the county.

ìItís fundamentally better for the individual,î said Tina Isaac, deputy director of adult services in Dakota County.

The Minnesota Mental Health Action Group released a progress report in February on improvements being made to the public and private mental health systems in the state. One of its top 10 priorities is to move to a regional system for community-based services.

ìAccess to varying services across county boundaries cause problems for consumers,î the report said.

With patients going to Anoka, their friends and family members may be less likely to visit them for programs, family meetings and other activities.

ìPeople feel more removed or disjointed,î Isaac said of patients being transported to another county. ìItís sort of like being moved away or sent away.î

Not only would the patients save a trip to Anoka, but the case workers and social workers from Dakota County would also spend less time making the commute. The workers would be able to meet with patients more regularly and not lose as much of their work day in the process.

ìSometimes going to Anoka can be an all-day event for people,î Isaac said.

The state would run the hospital, and it would be funded by federal, state and private insurance dollars. Kornrumpf said the hospital would be secure, fully staffed and run like an inpatient community hospital.

The two most common afflictions for patients coming into these facilities are schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Kornrumpf said. Kornrumpf will meet with the Trinity Care Center board next week to further discuss the matter.

Chance Prigge is at farmington.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.

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