VSH Canteen closes

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From Vermont Digger:

After months of waiting for the axe, Curtis Sinclair was officially laid off today. He ran the Canteen at the Vermont State Hospital and was downsized with five other people who worked at the snack bar in a basement room adjacent to the mental health facility. The Canteen was shuttered on Friday.

Advocates fought the closing of the Canteen because they say the snack bar was the only place for mentally ill patients from the hospital to get a break from the wards. Last month, former patients, VSH workers and activists embarked on a letter-writing campaign and held a press conference at the Statehouse.

 I've spent time in the Canteen, either to pick up a quick lunch or to talk to clients. A longtime state worker commented Friday that he's been having lunch there since the 1970's. To a person, every VSH employee I have talked to has been opposed to the closing of the canteen.

I was there yesterday.  There was free pizza for the patrons, and cake, and all their inventory of drinks was either already gone or on the way out the door. People working in the complex stopped by to wish the staff good luck, or express their appreciation for all they've done over the years, and now the place is closed.

 Since we know the savings claims are bogus, let's hope a way can be found to reopen the Canteen when the Legislature comes back in January.

10 thoughts on “VSH Canteen closes”

  2. There’s a lot I don’t understand about Vermont, and that I hope to spend my free time investigating.  I’d like to know where crazy ideas and decisions like this come from.

    Imposing a $20 fee on crime victims to get copies of their reports — when other states just charge copying costs, 25 cents.

    And closing a social outlet for people who are living in wards of a state hospital.  Aren’t these the very people our tax dollars should be supporting in regaining health???

    I’ll take these two subjects and see what I come up, how ideas like these gain traction in Vermont.  I want to know, given the progressive label that comes with the Green Mountains and maple syrup, and seems phony.

  3. I went to the closing party, but I couldn’t bear to stay. It was too sad seeing the place closed down on the pretense of saving money. Congratulations VSH Director Rowe, Commissioner Hartman, Secretary Hofmann, and Governor Douglas. You’ve succeeded in taking something from the people who have nothing. Perhaps you should spend a couple of years caged up in VSH like I did. Then you might have a better perspective on the wrong that you have committed.

    Curtis Sinclair

    former canteen coordinator

    and former VSH patient

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