greystone park psychiatric hospital

Nov. 1 party heralded new facility, but impasse delays patients' arrivals

By Lawrence Ragonese

February 10, 2008 - Star Ledger

 

The long-awaited new Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital had its grand opening party on Nov. 1. Flags were raised, doves released, an ancient hospital bell was rung, inspiring speeches given, as Gov. Jon Corzine and Senate President Richard Codey looked on.

"You can make a dream a reality," Greystone CEO Janet Monroe said that day. "The patients deserve this new hospital ... Today is a celebration for them."
But three months and 10 days later, the $170 million structure in Parsippany remains empty.

The hospital's 500 patients still live in old, dilapidated quarters, some in an aged complex just yards away from their new home, which may be off limits to them until at least April or May.

"It's frustrating. No doubt about it," Codey, a champion of mental health issues and Greystone, said last week. "It's embarrassing to go to a dedication and then three months later the building is not open. My gosh, I even cut the ribbon to open the new hospital."

Who's to blame? The answer depends on whom you ask.

The state Economic Development Authority, which is in charge of the construction project, contends work is done on the new 450,000-square-foot hospital and it is just waiting for inspectors from the state Department of Community Affairs to conclude a review and award a certificate of occupancy.

Not so, says the Department of Community Affairs. It contends some work at the new Greystone, including fire safety systems and plumbing, is not complete and can't be inspected yet.

Codey believes the problem is the Department of Community Affairs has a lack of employees, making it difficult to do timely inspections. But a DCA spokesman disagreed.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Human Services, which runs Greystone and prematurely held the grand opening ceremony and gala party, has declined to estimate when patients may move.

Patient advocates are not happy.

"I'm baffled the state cannot provide the resources to get a certificate of occupancy," said Eric Marcy, chairman of the Greystone board of trustees. "You have built a $170 million state-of-the-art hospital and it has to sit there empty? It's very difficult for patients to continue to wait for this to transpire, so they can move."

The new Greystone is a 450-bed hospital that, along with 60 beds in existing cottages, will serve a maximum of 510 patients, mostly from Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and parts of Warren counties. It would replace an aging hospital that houses patients in three substandard buildings, spread out on a more than 700-acre campus, while the administration operates out of a tiny portion of the massive 131-year-old original hospital building, which is mostly abandoned.

A court-appointed Greystone watchdog group, the Doe vs. Klein Monitoring Committee, in its reports to a Superior Court judge, has annually lamented the poor facilities and negative effect they have on patient care and programs. That was all supposed to be history soon after the Nov. 1 dedication.

 

But the new Greystone remains empty, its bedrooms and courtyards and recreation areas devoid of the patients it was designed to help.

Human Services officials prepared for a September 2007 move, but pushed it back to October and November. EDA officials in early December aimed for a Dec. 31 completion date. Last week, all sides were noncommittal on exactly when the new hospital would open, but Assistant State Human Services Commissioner Kevin Martone said he hopes inspections can be done in the next few weeks.

It would then take 30 days to prepare for a patient move day, he said. That would mean the hospital could not open until at least April.

"While we were hoping to be in sooner, we are confident the final work and approval process is necessary to ensure the overall quality and safety of the building," said Martone.

Glenn Phillips, a spokesman for the Economic Development Authority, said there are a host of inspections still required on electrical, fire, plumbing and elevator systems, among many others.

"It's such a massive building," he said. "It all has to be done right. Once the inspectors finish their job, we'll finish ours."

Chris Donnelly, a Community Affairs spokesman, said his agency's inspectors are poised to act, waiting for the EDA to say the work is done and ready for review.

"Certainly, DCA has staff shortages, as do many departments, but our staff is ready to move forward on Greystone ..." said Donnelly.

Codey says he has kept in touch with Martone and is waiting anxiously for patients to move into their new home and for a chance to visit.

"It's like they keep saying, 'the check is in the mail,'" said Codey. "Hopefully, it's on the way."

 

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