Business

Potential St. Joseph’s Landing expansion focus of community meeting

PARKERSBURG -- A community meeting was held at St. Joseph Landing Friday afternoon to discuss the potential of Behavioral Health Services at the facility.

Building Manager Jon Defibaugh led the meeting and introduced the idea to concerned residents and neighbors of St. Joseph Landing.

"The original dream was to make this a veterans health center," Defibaugh said about the former St. Joseph Hospital. "But so far within St. Joseph Landing we have a Veterans Service Office, the Recovery Center, Workforce and many others here."

Defibaugh said Camden Clark Memorial Hospital bought St. Joseph's Hospital in 2011 and sold it around 2016. Defibaugh said he and others "stepped in to fix it, build it, and grow it" and that "it's been a slow and difficult process."

The core issue has been a lack of local services, according to Defibaugh. For every mental hygiene call, a police officer has to stay with the patient up to 12 hours awaiting placement for said patient, Defibaugh said.

Defibaugh said that he did not represent any agency other than for the building and himself.

"I want to build something and grow something, and these people here work hard for that," Defibaugh said. "I am speaking completely independently on this. We're doing this so the building doesn't end up demolished and history is lost. St. Joseph Hospital used to be the premier hospital in the area."

He informed those that St. Joseph Hospital was sold with the provision the facility can not be used again as a hospital.

Defibaugh said that the basic idea was to incorporate an Acute Care Psychiatric Unit that includes 72-hour holds for those in mental crisis. Those patients who are being helped in the unit will receive a case manager, physician care as and a therapist. He said the unit will help reposition people if they are from outside the area, saying that the unit would be a "path out instead of a path into" Parkersburg.

"The core of the basic idea is to alleviate ERs and the police," Defibaugh said. "We want to find out who these people are and when we return them to their homes, we'll put a care plan in place with them."

Defibaugh then opened the meeting to questions and answers.

Many residents who attended Friday's meeting were against a Behavioral Health Unit so close to home. Some were concerned that the plan was not thought out enough and there was not enough data to see if it would be worth it.

Concerns were of safety and precautions to keep the neighborhood safe and some questioned whether the announcement was a marketing or business deal.

Mayor Tom Joyce read data and recent patrol reports showing how many have come into the community for help and only the City of Parkersburg was in charge of fixing the problem.

"I'll be the first one to say that West Virginia needs more mental health services, but I am categorically opposed to this expansion of service," Joyce said. "Parkersburg can not be the end-all and be-all for those locations. I've gone with others to Charleston to pass legislation for this crisis and the bill was beaten back by health providers and died in committee. It's a hard 'no' from me until changes are made in Medicaid and West Virginia code."

Sheriff Rick Woodyard said 497 mental health hygiene patients are being handled and the Parkersburg Police Department is down 16 officers, leaving him to make hard decisions regarding mental health patients.

"I'm not advocating one way or the other, I'm saying I've had to choose whether to send three officers to a possible homicide or to sit with a mental health patient," said Woodyard. "They don't need law enforcement, they need medical help."

Gretchen Dowler can be reached at gdowler@newsandsentinel.com.