VIDEO: CVH Workers Rally Against Layoffs and Budget Cuts

Union leaders, health care workers and former patients gathered outside of Merritt Hall, on the Connecticut Valley Hospital campus in Middletown, on Wednesday afternoon to protest the state’s plan to eliminate 80 inpatient beds at a detox and rehabilitation unit.

The proposal is part of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget cuts, which were released last week after state employee unions rejected the governor’s wage and concessions deal. Malloy is trying to close a $1.6 billion gap in the state’s two-year budget.

During the noontime rally, which attracted dozens of union workers at CVH and a contingent of media, union officials called Malloy’s proposal to close two facilities at Merritt for men with substance abuse problems “a disgrace, an outrage and irresponsible.”

The rally was organized by the New England Health Care Workers Union, District 1199, which represents about 115 unionized workers at the facility who would be laid off if Malloy’s plan goes through.

Union organizer Bill Meyerson said he and other officials are hopeful that a recent action by state leaders to change union voting rules means the unions may soon vote on Malloy’s original wage and concession deal and stave off the proposed budget cuts, including the Merritt Hall cuts.

“I know I’m going to vote for it!” one union member yelled from the crowd.

Other nurses and counselors who work at the CVH facility said they’re worried that if the unit is closed those needing its services will not find help elsewhere and will end up on the streets, in emergency rooms (which don’t assist with long term care of substance abusers) and in prisons.

The state-run program at CVH serves a population that can’t afford private detox and rehabilitation services, Meyerson said.

“For many patients, this is the last stop.”

Former patients of the facility also spoke at the rally and said the CVH program helped save their lives.

“Without this I don’t think I’d be here today,” said a patient identified as Eve. “Thank goodness for places like this.”