The 1981 General Assembly, through HJR 283, requested the Secretary of Administration and Finance to determine the feasibility of constructing a new State hospital for the mentally ill in Southwest Virginia, and of transferring the present site of Southwestern State Hospital to the Department of Corrections. The Secretary of Administration and Finance created an interagency Task Force to perform this feasibility study.

The Task Force conducted on-site visits to Southwestern State Hospital and the Marion Correctional Center, meeting there with staff of both facilities as well as representatives of the community. In addition, the Task Force reviewed all available information on the programmatic, budgetary, and management alternatives by which the objectives of HJR 283 could be accomplished.

Based on the input received from these sources, the Task Force concluded that there continues to be a need for a State mental hospital in Southwest Virginia. Depending upon the specific treatment programs to be offered, the number of beds required at this facility ranges from 375 to 425.

Secondly, while transfer of the present site of Southwestern State Hospital to the Department of Corrections offers a number of benefits to the State, the costs of constructing a new mental hospital in Southwest Virginia and of converting the present Hospital site to a permanent correctional facility are prohibitive. For this reason the Task Force instead recommends a renovation/reconstruction program to convert Southwestern State Hospital to a certified long-term mental health care facility.

To accomplish this objective the Task Force recommends to the Governor and the General Assembly that:

1. Capital outlay and program planning should proceed as soon as possible to convert Southwestern State Hospital to a long-term chronic care facility. The cost of this conversion is estimated to be $10.4 million, of which $750,000 should be appropriated in the 1982-84 Appropriation Act for planning and design purposes.

2. In the context of this planning process, the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation should also develop alternative treatment programs to care for the alcoholic, acute, and adolescent patient populations now housed at Southwestern State Hospital.

3. Once program planning has been completed by the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, an operational plan should be developed to identify necessary staff resources to operate the long-term care facility. Concurrently, staff resources which exceed these required levels should be identified for phased reduction or transfer to other Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation programs.