(Host) A top Shumlin administration official says about 80 former employees of the now-closed Vermont State Hospital are being laid off.
Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding tells The Associated Press that the workers are scheduled to get layoff notices today and they’ll formally leave state employment in April.
The Waterbury hospital was closed after flooding from Tropical Storm Irene. Since then, the administration has been working to design a new mental health system with patients placed in smaller facilities around the state.
The news comes as the Senate plans to take up final passage of a bill to retool the state mental health system, including building a new 16-bed secure facility in Berlin within the next three years.