Sen. Lorraine Berry expressed concern last week about whether the planned one-story mental health facility being planned for the East End will be adequate.
Berry wanted to know if the $1.1 million being reprogrammed from refurbishment of the Michel Hotel to the proposed new construction in Anna's Fancy would be adequate to build a two-story facility.
A release from Berry's office said the senator had received calls from "deeply concerned residents" who felt the planned single story facility would accommodate only 16 patients when at least 36 mental health patients need long term care.
Berry's release said that mental Health Director Dr. Derek V. Spencer told her that construction of a one story facility would be a "total waste."
According to Spencer, Health Department Commissioner Dr. Wilbur Callendar concurs with Spencer's view. Callendar says an additional $500,000 might be required to add the second story, according to the release from Berry's office.
Berry said she hoped the government would do the right think for "those poor and usually abandoned souls who cannot speak for themselves but must depend on the kindness of others, often complete strangers."
