By Jennifer Reeger, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
Jul. 25–A new forensic housing unit for criminals at Torrance State Hospital is on schedule to open by the end of the year, the Derry Township hospital’s chief executive officer said at a board meeting Thursday.
Renovations are under way and Torrance employees who want to work in the forensic unit are being trained, Edna McCutcheon said.
The unit is opening because of the planned closing of Mayview State Hospital in Allegheny County.
Up to 75 patients will be housed at the new Torrance facility, which will provide in-patient mental health evaluation and treatment for county jail inmates who are awaiting trial or sentencing for crimes.
Minor renovations have begun at the hospital’s Beistal Building, which will house the forensic unit. That building houses juvenile sex offenders sentenced to incarceration after they become adults.
Those offenders will be moved to the now-vacant Wiseman Building, which needs extensive renovations. The hospital’s renovation plans for that building were recently approved by the state Department of Labor and Industry, McCutcheon said.
In the meantime, the juvenile sex offenders will be moved to another recently vacated building while their new home is being readied.
She said the hospital anticipates 70 staff members will be transferring from Mayview.
Torrance employees who are transferring to the forensic unit are starting extensive training as well, McCutcheon said.
The transition should wrap up by Dec. 31.
“No one except a very small group of people will know the exact date when the transition will occur, obviously for security and safety reasons,” she said.
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