A state mental health system with no state hospital: the Vermont plan ten years later

The feasibility and desirability of closing Vermont's only state hospital have been debated for ten years. The author examines the current status of the state department of mental health's plan to close the state hospital and concludes that although closure would be feasible, it would not be desirable. It would reduce the tertiary capacity of the mental health care system and would limit care for severely and persistently mentally ill persons who resist treatment and who have few social resources.