Governor announces half the residents at Choate Mental Health Center will be transferred

Posted on March 9, 2023
Following up on the announcement that half of the Choate Mental Health Center’s population is being shipped out, Gov. JB Pritzker blamed his predecessor. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – A state residential facility in far southern Illinois – rocked by reports of nightmarish conditions for people who live there – now has the Pritzker administration’s full attention. 

Following up on the announcement that half of the Choate Mental Health Center’s population is being shipped out, Gov. JB Pritzker blamed his predecessor.

“It truly had been hollowed out,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference in Springfield Wednesday. “When I came into office, it wasn’t like we woke up halfway through. We immediately understood  that these things are underfunded, they’re understaffed, it’s very difficult to attract people to some of these facilities with the right kind of credentials that are necessary (to work in these facilities). It’s even harder now, as you can imagine.”

The decision follows an investigation by Lee Newspapers, Capitol News Illinois, and ProPublica into patient abuse and neglect at the home in Anna, Ill.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…