State officials today announced plans to close Mayview State Hospital, which serves people with serious mental illnesses, by the end of next year.

More than 200 patients are at the South Fayette hospital, and the vast majority will likely move to homes in the community, with supervision or other support as needed, officials said.

		Listen in Estelle Richman, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, and Joan Erney, deputy secretary for the Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, discuss plans to close Mayview State Hospital. Ms. Richman explains how the closing will proceed. Ms. Erney describes who is in state hospitals. Ms. Richman, then Ms. Erney, discuss how they plan to work with patients' families.

Other patients who need more supervised care could be sent to Torrance State Hospital in Westmoreland County.

More than 500 employees at Mayview will be offered employment opportunities at other state-operated facilities or with new or existing community programs.

Rumors have swirled that the state might shut down Mayview, and downsizing has been under way at the 335-acre campus for months.

Officials had said that the downsizing would not affect a forensic unit that provides evaluation and treatment for people in the criminal justice system. But they now say that forensic services at Mayview also will be discontinued.

Currently, more than 200 patients are served at forensic units at Mayview, Norristown and Warren state hospitals. The state plans to seek proposals for private companies to provide forensic services at two sites, one at the Norristown hospital and the other at Torrance State Hospital.

Pennsylvania's effort to downsize its mental hospitals is driven in part by court decisions directing that people with mental illnesses be served, when possible, in community settings.

Since the mid-1990s, the number of patients at the state's hospitals has dropped from more than 4,900 to about 2,000.

A public hearing on the Mayview closure will be held at the Crowne Plaza Pittsburgh South in Bethel Park on Sept. 10 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Those seeking to comment are asked to register by contacting Dorothy Owens at 412-257-6200 or dowens@state.pa.us.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.