Gov. Peter Shumlin wants lawmakers to send him a bill that overhauls the state's mental health system, and he has warned the Legislature not to tinker with his proposal for a new 16-bed regional facility.

Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding tells The Associated Press that the workers are scheduled to get layoff notices Friday and they'll formally leave state employment in April.

Last night, an overflow crowd filled the Lamoille Community Connections conference room in Morrisville. About 150 people were there to hear Vermont Mental Health Commissioner Patrick Flood talk about a plan to put up to 16 beds at the regional mental health facility.

After the Vermont State Hospital was closed by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene, Governor Peter Shumlin proposed decentralizing the facility, and moving some patients to treatment centers like the one in Morristown.

By a vote of 123 to 3, the House has given its approval to legislation that makes important changes to the state's mental health system. The bill strengthens community based programs and it calls for a new 25 bed acute care facility to be built in central Vermont.

The House is considering legislation that's designed to strengthen community based mental health services across the state.

Two committees of the Vermont Legislature will take testimony from the public at a hearing on the future of the state's mental health system, now that the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury is closed.

The public will get a chance to offer recommendations on how Vermont's mental health system should be structured.

A key lawmaker says she thinks the future of Vermont's mental health system can be resolved within a month.

The debate over replacing the Vermont State Hospital has been going on for a decade. But it has gained new urgency in the months since Tropical Storm Irene, when the Waterbury facility was flooded and all of the patients had to be moved to other locations.

Governor Peter Shumlin has outlined plans to replace the antiquated Vermont state hospital in Waterbury with a regional system of care for the mentally ill. Shumlin's plans call for a new 15-bed hospital in Berlin, as well as the expansion of existing facilities in Brattleboro and Rutland.

Workers at the closed Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury say they've largely been ignored as the state debates the future of its mental health system in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene.

At a legislative committee in Montpelier Wednesday, lawmakers heard from hospital officials about how they've had to step in after Tropical Storm Irene flooded Waterbury and forced the State Hospital to close.

The head of Brattleboro Retreat talks about how the hospital has integrated new psychiatric patients from the Vermont State Hospital.

The facility in Waterbury was heavily damaged by Tropical Storm Irene and more than 50 patients at the hospital have been housed in several different locations around the state. Shumlin says the hospital was a terrible facility before Irene.

Community hospitals around the state continue to grapple with the challenges posed by flooding at the State Hospital.

Dr. Robert Pierattini, the physician leader for the psychiatry service at Fletcher Allen Healthcare in Burlington discusses the challenges facilities like his face as they await word from the state on the future of the State Hospital.

Mental health advocates are urging the Shumlin Administration not to reopen the antiquated state hospital in Waterbury. Meanwhile, officials say they're making progress on finding space for some of the patients at a residential facility in Williston.

Agency of Human Services Secretary Doug Racine discusses a new plan for replacing the Vermont State Hospital and better serving mentally ill people in crisis. We also look at other issues within the largest state agency.

The departing executive director of the Vermont State Hospital says the aging and cramped hospital is the biggest challenge to providing excellent care.

Mental health policy makers hope to replace the Vermont State Hospital with new facilities linked to hospitals in Rutland and the Upper Valley. Vermont's oldest psychiatric facility, the Brattleboro Retreat, says it should be part of the solution for the state hospital.

VPR's Jane Lindholm talks with Vermont's Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hartman and Representative Anne Donahue about why the Vermont State Hospital lost certification, and what it means for the state's budget and the hospital's future. 

Federal regulators have again denied certification to the Vermont State Hospital.  We talk about why, and what it means for the hospital's future.  Also, a talk with Alistair Cooke's daughter.

Federal regulators have refused again to recertify the Vermont State Hospital, after finding that it did not have an acceptable system for reporting, documenting and addressing problems and other issues.

Vermont's mental health commissioner says the state psychiatric hospital is nearly full and regional hospitals are operating at 80% capacity as officials try to come up expansion plans.