The Illinois Department of Human Services has revised its plans for Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna, announcing that 25 psychiatric beds will remain at the facility rather than eliminating all 75 beds.
The decision was announced in a joint statement from Republican State Senators Terri Bryant and Paul Jacobs, who welcomed the change but expressed concerns about the reduction in mental health services available in Southern Illinois.
The revised plan would preserve some inpatient psychiatric treatment at Choate while reducing the facility’s psychiatric bed capacity by approximately two-thirds.
Bryant and Jacobs said retaining just 25 beds falls far short of meeting the region’s mental health needs.
IDHS had previously announced plans to eliminate all 75 civil mental health beds at Choate while expanding treatment capacity at Madden Mental Health Center in Chicago.
The latest decision also represents a change from plans announced in October 2024, when IDHS proposed increasing Choate’s psychiatric capacity from 50 to as many as 75 beds.
That expansion was based partly on recommendations from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.
The senators pointed to those recommendations in criticizing the reduction, saying the study supported expanding psychiatric services at Choate rather than cutting them.
Bryant and Jacobs are calling for a stronger state commitment to maintaining mental health treatment options in Southern Illinois.
They said families deserve access to mental health services close to home, while employees at Choate deserve assurances that those services will be preserved.
The revised plan represents a partial reversal of the state’s earlier proposal, although the facility would still lose 50 of its 75 psychiatric beds.