SPRINGFIELD, MA — Providence Behavioral Health’s owners — Mercy Medical Center and its parent Trinity Health operating locally as Trinity Health New England — are going through the state regulatory process now and have not yet received final permission to close the 74 beds, a number that includes 12 pediatric psychiatric beds for children and teens.
Trinity blamed it s inability to hire psychiatrists as well as the low reimbursements paid for mental health care, as well as the age of the facility as reasons to close.
Unions — the Massachusetts Nurses Association and the United Auto Workers — representing workers at Providence rallied Thursday outside the office of Mercy Medical Center Boards of Directors Chairman Paul Mancinone.