Gov. Maura Healey plans to close a mental health center in Cape Cod, in addition to shuttering a state-run pediatric rehabilitation hospital in Canton.
Healey also intends to significantly slash the state’s mental health case manager workforce, and the closings and staff cuts are drawing a strong backlash from critics who predict “severe consequences” in health care.
As Healey filed her fiscal 2026 budget Wednesday, a string of health care unions lamented the governor’s plan to shut down Pocasset Mental Health Center -- also known as the Cape Cod & Islands Community Mental Health Center -- that is run by the state’s Department of Mental Health.
Asked to confirm the closure, a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services told the News Service, “We have taken these steps to improve the care and services we are able to offer.”
“We recognize these changes have significant impacts on patients and families, and we are committed to supporting them through the transition of their care,” spokesperson Olivia James said. “We will also work with employees and our partners in labor to support impacted employees and ensure they are able to transition to new roles.”
There are 56 employees at Pocasset. Beyond the center, Healey’s budget calls for reducing the volume of DMH case managers from 340 to 170, HHS said.
DMH staff were notified about the Pocasset action Wednesday afternoon in a “commissioner message,” which noted the budget “includes closing our acute inpatient unit in Pocasset and reducing our case management staff.”
“I understand that this is very difficult information to receive, but I also want to be honest about the budget realities we are facing as an agency,” states the message, which was obtained by the News Service and circulated by Ann Looney, director of labor relations at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
“As the process unfolds in the weeks ahead, we will update you and your union representatives as the budget is debated, and potentially amended, before it is finalized,” the message continued. “Any changes would take place after the start of the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and we will meet and bargain with the unions before any changes take place.”
Administration and Finance officials did not explicitly mention the Pocasset closure during a briefing with reporters Wednesday. But they said the closure of Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital in Canton -- which also involves shifting services to a state public health hospital in Westfield -- would save the state $31 million.
Healey appeared to allude to the Pocasset facility during a press conference Wednesday afternoon when asked why she’s closing the Pappas hospital despite her administration’s focus on primary care and mental health.
“I think of it as a redirecting of services, of care,” Healey said. “In one place, we have a low utilization rate, only 16 beds. In another place, we have about 39 individuals housed, and a number of them -- the majority of them -- are over the age of 21, so looking at some other options, other facilities, places, where maybe it makes more sense in terms of consolidation of care or the right kind of care for those individuals.”
The facility closures don’t require legislative approval, state health officials said.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association said it is “vehemently opposed to the plan to close Pocasset Mental Health Center,” which the union described as a 16-bed inpatient acute mental health stabilization unit serving patients ages 19 and older. The center offers short-term treatment for patients, MNA said.
“PMHC is vital to addressing the greatest crisis facing our mental health system which is the lack of beds to meet the needs for patients with acute mental illness, which is resulting in thousands of patients boarding several hours to several days in our hospitals emergency departments like those at Cape Cod, Falmouth and BI Plymouth Hospitals, where they go without care and too often decompensate, and many times can become violent,” the MNA said in a statement to the News Service. “PCMHC is vital to help alleviate the problem for hospitals on the Cape, where such programs are limited. The program is often full and has a waiting list for clients.”
SEIU Local 509 and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO also sounded the alarm about the hospital closures and the DMH case manager layoffs.
“Over 300 union members work between these two facilities, providing essential services to high-needs populations,” Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Chrissy Lynch said. “The loss of both facilities alongside critical DMH staff will have severe consequences on our overwhelmed health care system, where every day hundreds of behavioral health patients are kept boarding in Emergency Departments. This decision will leave vulnerable children, their families, and behavioral health patients in Massachusetts without proper access to care.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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