A Public Announcement

Save Dorothea Dix For Wake County

Note: I am very disappointed with NC Houses majority decision of 98 to 17 to close Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh and relocate it outside of the Wake County Community.

** Those who voted against Dix for Wake County will be remembered at the 2004 NC Election.

Dix needs to stay in Wake County, and these are the reasons why:

·        Serious impact on services in Wake County as Dorothea Dix Hospital offers the only acute inpatient psychiatric services. 

        ** Fifty percent of the hospitals patients are from Wake County.

·        Other counties that will be affected are Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Cumberland, Moore, Randolph, Davidson, Montgomery, Richmond, Anson, Scotland, Robeson, Columbus, Bladen, and Hoke, as the sheriff departments will have to transport the patients further to Butner, creating extra expense in man-hours and transportation costs.

·        It would be a hardship on many of the families who visit their loved ones at Dorothea Dix Hospital, as they use public transportation.

·        Lack of public transportation in Butner would also hinder our patients’ transition back into the community. 

·        The move to Butner would have a devastating effect on Wake Medical Center, as they currently process a large amount of psychiatric patients through their emergency room who are then transported to Dorothea Dix Hospital. Dix has also reached an agreement with Wake Medical to provide psychiatric consultation to their patients.

·        The Healing Place (“Chronic Alcohol Treatment Program”) was placed on Dix’s campus with the understanding that Dix would provide emergency services to their clients.

·        The onsite Dorothea Dix Hospital Preschool is a tool to recruit and retain qualified staff.  Our vacancy rates in hard-to-recruit categories, such as psychiatrists, social workers, health care technicians, and nurses, are much lower than at John Umstead Hospital.  Placing the hospital in Butner would result in chronic staff recruitment problems.

·        Many of our rank in file come from neighboring counties from the southeastern part of the state, such as Harnett, Johnston, and Hoke, and have been part of the Dix family for generations.

·        Keeping the new hospital on the Dix campus will only involve 30-50 acres of this vast campus.  There is room for everyone. 

·        Currently, many divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services occupy buildings rent-free on the Dix campus. The hospital’s infrastructure provides engineering, landscaping, and housekeeping services to these buildings.  If this property is taken over, it would cost around $1.5 million in the rental of other office space annually as well as additional costs involved with the cleaning and maintenance of the new office space.

·        The special volunteers from the Raleigh Correctional Center for Women would be deprived of work experience, which translates into salary savings from $130-150 thousand dollars annually.

** Remember that Dorothea Dix Hospital has always been a safety net between the community and the most severe chronically ill patients for 146 years.  We are dedicated professionals who wish to continue this proud tradition for another century.  

After considering all these facts, help us KEEP DIX AT DIX.

In Memory of Ms. Dorothea Lynn Dix:  

Please do not let what she fought for and died for to be relocated from the Wake County Area!  The General Assembly originally gave Ms. Dix the land in order to establish mental health facility.   Wake County is the central point for North Carolinians who are suffering with mental illness.  The Hospital has literally helped 100's of thousands of Carolinians get back to a normal lifestyle and away of life.

***  Please Contact Your the Governors Office and NC Senators before anything is finalized copy and paste this link your email message directed to them!

** A special thanks to those who have stood with Dix through the years

"May God Truly Bless You".

Dorothea Dix Hospital Link

Freedom of Speech Is Declared!

This is a Wake County Citizens Voters Point of View and Dose Not Reflect The Hospitals Administration.  

© June 2003 By IM = A Former Dix Patient (Hi Prince On 1-South)