STATE HOUSE — In a win for the Baker administration, Auditor Suzanne Bump on Wednesday approved the privatization of government mental health services in southeastern Massachusetts, citing $7 million in savings and drawing a sharp rebuke from a union president who says the clearance threatens critical services.
The Department of Mental Health's privatization proposal affects emergency mental health services in a region covering Brockton, Fall River, the Taunton and Attleboro areas, and Cape Cod and the Islands. Under the proposal, the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership (MBHP) will contract with Bay Cove Human Services Inc. and Community Counseling of Bristol County to provide services.
TONAWANDA, N.Y. (AP) — For Kim Vaillancourt, pregnant while staving off aggressive brain cancer, it comes down to this: "The baby saved me. Now it's my turn to save him."
Vaillancourt was diagnosed with glioblastoma after going to the hospital for headaches and nausea that came on over Christmas. Were it not for concern for the boy she's carrying, she and her husband, Phil, said it was a life-saving trip she would not have made.
