The Illinois Department of Human Services will keep 25 of 75 minimum-security mental health beds open at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna, Ill., scaling back a plan to close all of them. The department will phase out the remaining 50 beds by July 2027, Capitol News Illinois reported Oct. 26.
IDHS withdrew its application to close all 75 beds from the Healthcare Facilities and Services Review Board on Oct. 15. The state also plans to add about 200 beds at three other state-run psychiatric hospitals: 100 at Alton Mental Health Center, 56 at Chester Mental Health Center and 44 at Madden Mental Health Centers in Hines.
Choate’s 40-bed forensic intellectual and developmental disabilities program will remain open. Its general I/DD program, which serves 11 people, will close, and those residents will move to community-based, family or other state-operated settings.
Choate will lose about 250 positions, according to the report. IDHS said it is adding 410 human services jobs across southern Illinois, including 87 at Choate, and will offer new roles to all qualifying affected employees.
The downsizing faces two pending lawsuits, one led by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 and another filed by Union County Stat’s Attorney Tyler Tripp. Both allege the state violated facility closure and mental health access laws.
Republican state Sens. Terri Bryant and Paul Jacobs called the 25-bed retention inadequate for the region. Ms. Bryant told the Daily Egyptian the state is “illegally reducing beds at a hospital” and is trying to strengthen its legal position. IDHS denied that, citing regional need and infrastructure constraints tied to building new beds.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration first announced plans to downsize Choate in March 2023, after a ProPublica and Capitol News Illinois investigation documented abuse and cover-ups at the facility.
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