Employees at the state-run Mental Health Institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant that are being closed say the hospitals have provided high-quality care, even if the facilities do not have the “gold star” of accreditation. Cindy Fedler, a nurse clinician, was hired at the Mental Health Institute in Mount Pleasant in 2007 — to prepare for the tests required for the accrediting process. “That plan was aborted due to financial reasons,” Fedler says.

Fedler worked at the M-H-I in Mount Pleasant until April 6th, when she was laid off. “The accreditation would not have changed the way we admitted folks,” she says. “It would not have changed the way those who had payment, insurance — the way they paid, it would not have changed that.” And Fedler says Mount Pleasant’s M-H-I met all the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “best practices” guidelines.

“The accreditation we keep hearing in the media, I want the truth to be known that that would have affected us not at all,” Fedler says, “other than a nice little title and a gold star behind our name.” Governor Terry Branstad has said the two M-H-I’s are being closed because they’re antiquated and are not accredited. Ann Davison, a nurse clinician at the Clarinda Mental Health Institute, was hired in 2005 to prepare for the accreditation process there — but the state decided not to spend the money.

Davison and Fedler made their comments this week during testimony before the Iowa Senate Government Oversight Committee.

(Radio Iowa)