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Dan
Senters, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees, said Friday that Kathleen Muniz, Assistant
Associate Director in charge of Developmental Disabilities for DHS,
ordered several truckloads of equipment to be taken to the Tinley
Park facility, where she was formerly director.
He
said three large compressors, 40 dressers, 40 nightstands, 30 beds
and a pallet of new pots, pans and lids have been removed from LDC.
The pallet of kitchen supplies included about 500 items that had
been especially ordered for the LDC dietary department, Senters
said.
“She is acting as if obtaining the permit is not significant to the
closure of Lincoln. She is taking equipment we would need if the
permit is not issued and we remain open,” he said.
“I’ve been informed another semi-tractor trailer is coming next week
to get more equipment that they want at Howe,” Senters said. “Why
is Howe getting a priority on equipment? If in fact Lincoln does
close, there are other facilities that need it as much as Howe.”
He
said some of the equipment has come from buildings that have been
closed, including Elmhurst, Kickapoo Street Apartments, Coty, and
Fish, and some is coming out of general stores.
AFSCME and plaintiffs in a lawsuit to stop Gov. George Ryan and DHS
from closing the Lincoln facility contend that the Illinois Health
Facilities Planning Board must issue a permit before DHS can close
LDC. The board will meet on Aug. 15 to make its decision on the
permit.
Reginald Marsh, spokesman for DHS, said Muniz, who is director of
all state-operated facilities for the developmentally disabled, has
moved beds, wheelchairs, and other equipment for the LDC residents
who have already been moved to Howe.
“The equipment is following individuals who were using it,” he
said. Muniz has also instituted a review to see if there is surplus
equipment at LDC, according to Marsh.
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He
said DHS is continuing to work on its plan to close LDC completely
by the Sept. 1 deadline set by Gov. Ryan, even though the Health
Facilities Planning Board has not yet made its decision on the
permit.
“It
takes planning to move these individuals, and that takes time. We
can’t just wait until the process is completed to start the
planning.”
In
another blow to LDC, Gov. Ryan announced this week that he was
vetoing more than $4 million worth of construction projects. The
funds were to be used to upgrade the heating plant, replace Elmhurst
Cottage and install energy-efficient windows. The $4 million for
LDC was part of the $69 million Ryan cut from the capital
improvement budget.
Since last October, DHS has moved about 200 residents out of LDC,
downsizing the facility from its former 375 residents to the present
171.
An
injunction to halt the movement of residents without their
guardians’ consent was granted by Logan County Circuit Court Judge
Donald Behle on July 1, but was overruled by the 4th
District Appellate Court on July 10.
AFSCME appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, and on Thursday
Supreme Court Justice Rita Garman granted a stay blocking DHS from
moving any more residents from the Lincoln facility until the high
court decides whether to hear the plaintiffs’ case.
AFSCME and the Lincoln Parents Association, whose members are
parents and guardians of LDC residents, have been fighting the
downsizing and closure of the 125-year-old facility since last fall,
when allegations of abuse and neglect cause LDC to temporarily lose
its federal funding.
[Joan
Crabb]
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