Alabama will shut down most of its mental health hospitals by early 2013. [View all]

ATLANTA — Alabama will shut down most of its mental health hospitals by the spring of 2013 in a sweeping plan to cut costs and change how the state’s psychiatric patients receive treatment, state officials announced on Wednesday.
The decision to close four hospitals and lay off 948 employees is a bleak reminder of Alabama’s shrinking budget. But it is also the latest example in a longstanding national effort among states to relocate mentally ill patients from government hospitals to small group homes and private hospitals.

Mental health advocates believe patients often get better care in smaller, less isolating facilities. Since the 1990s, Alabama has closed 10 other mental health treatment centers.

“What’s unusual is how many hospitals in Alabama are being closed so fast,” said Bob Carolla, a spokesman for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “The trend has been to downsize much more gradually.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/us/alabama-plans-to-shut-most-mental-hospitals.html?_r=1&ref=health

Sadly, the Community Mental Health centers which are expected to to handle the patients, are also facing budget cuts.

Exact scenario happened in the 70's, when many state hospitals were closed, and patients ended up with few resources.