After attending Thursday’s public hearing regarding White Haven Center conducted by the Department of Human Services, Reps. Tarah Toohil, R-Luzerne, and Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, announced they are working with the chairman of the House Human Services Committee, Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-Bucks, to hold an urgent meeting regarding the pending closure of the facility for the physically and mentally challenged.

Toohil said, “I am deeply concerned by the testimony we heard about the 80% mortality rate when residents were evicted from the Hamburg state center. The death of one of our WHC residents, due to forced removal, will be one death too many.”

State Sen. John Yudichak, D-Carbon/Luzerne, also issued a statement: “The proposal to close White Haven Center is wrong from a budgetary standpoint, a policy perspective, and, most of all, it is the wrong way to treat people with intellectual disabilities, the families who love them, and the dedicated professionals who care for them.”