State Health Sec. John Colmers said his department needs to do a better job of discussing security and plans for the Sykesville Secure Evaluation & Therapeutic Treatment Program.

“The communication has been terrible here,” he said.

More than 40 people attended the short-notice Wednesday, Sept. 17 meeting at Springfield Hospital Center. The meeting was hosted by the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene.

The department plans to move nine residents from Rosewood, which is closing, to Springfield Hospital Center's Muncie Building in October. A definitive date has not been set, Colmers said.

The building would host the Sykesville Secure Evaluation & Therapeutic Treatment Program, which will house a maximum of 22 people who have developmental disabilities and a criminal history. The program will be operated by the state's Developmental Disabilities Administration.

Several residents and officials expressed their displeasure about not finding about plans for the program and needing to ask dozens of questions weeks before the transfer is to take place.

Lack of open communication and clear planning for the facility were among the top concerns of those in attendance.

“My concern is that these questions should have been answered before any decision was made,” Del. Susan Krebs (R-9B) of Eldersburg said, before the audience applauded her comments.

One thing that the department lacked until Wednesday was documentation of a strategic plan to transfer the patients, Krebs said.

The General Assembly required the department in its budget bill to produce a plan by July 1 or else $5 million in the department’s budget would be held, she said.

That document was not produced until Wednesday, she said. However, it was not available at the meeting.

The Legislature has 30 days to review the plan, she said.

Krebs said a prior move of patients from Crownsville Hospital Center to Springfield was very open and the community did not have a problem.

“Our community didn't make a peep,” she said. “We welcomed them, and it was done in a very open way. We're not nimbys.”

Nimbys is slang for ‘not in my back yarders.”

Mark Klimovitz of Sykesville wants the department’s officials to be held accountable.

“My bigger concern is apparently there were decisions made, investigations done, exploratory things done on location and apparently these
documents, there's no records of it available,” he said. “I think that speaks of the old cigar-filled room of politics going on.”

Colmers pledged to be more open communication and to be more responsive to community concerns and that his department would let the community know of any major changes that would take place.

“I have learned an important lesson organizationally that we need to do a better job of communicating,” he said. “There's nothing like two hours in a meeting like this to sensitize you to be more responsive to community concerns.”

He said the communication wasn’t open because the department thought that because Springfield has had success with its 180 forensic patients, that the nine to 22 forensic patients in its DDA program would not be a problem with the community.

Sykesville Mayor Jonathan Herman said the plan was never discussed with the town. He wants the state to improve its planning of locating similar facilities.

“It seems like from a purely planning standpoint, I don't think you guys ever thought about the actual location of this site in Springfield Hospital,” he said. “You obviously saw a building that met your needs, but we've been trying to get a master plan developed for the entire hospital because one our concerns has always been that a huge prison would go in here.”

The Muncie Building program is classified as a health care facility and not a prison, Colmers said.

A 2004 Department of Mental Health and Hygiene report outlined several scenarios and locations where Rosewood patients could be transferred if the center were to close.

The report did not mention Springfield as a possible location. Nor did a briefing earlier this year given to the House Appropriations Committee, Krebs said.

A more recent report similar to the 2004 one was not issued or requested to be made.

Health officials admitted they needed a plan they had to put in place quickly when O’Malley announced the closure.

Springfield had the available building space and one that could be renovated to put in place security measures, Arlene Stephenson, deputy secretary for public health had told The Eagle.

The building and location is temporary, Colmers said, because it is anticipated that the program will grow beyond the Muncie Building space.

Krebs cautioned about saying the location is temporary.

“With our budget situation in the state of Maryland, this is not going to be temporary,” she said.

The original plan for a new center calls it to be a $5.5 million operation, she said.

“I can tell you that that is not on anyone's priority list to build a $5.5 million facility for some forensic patients ...” she said. “I'm hoping to put some pressure on the administration to find a permanent solution to this.”

State Sen. Allan Kittleman (R-9) of West Friendship said residents, police, Springfield staff, elected officials and health officials need to cooperate to be ready for the program when it arrives.

“We all have to work together to make this the best as we can, folks,” he said.

An additional meeting is scheduled as a part of the Sykesville mayor and Town Council regular session.

That meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 22 at Sykesville Middle School, 7301 Springfield Ave., Sykesville.

Officials scheduled to be present include Colmers; Michael Chapman, director of the Developmental Disabilities Administration; Paula Langmead, chief executive officer of Springfield; Susan Steinberg, director of the forensics office and Stephenson.

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