By WGGB Staff

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) -- Despite requests to Gov. Deval Patrick to keep a Center for Human Development Program for Assertive Community Treatment for mentally ill patients open in Western Massachusetts, the program's office closed its doors for good in February.

Prior to the budget cut that prompted the closure, 12 people had worked at the PACT office on Willow Street. Those employees have now moved on after the office was closed at the end of February. The Springfield office was one of two PACT offices the administration closed out of a total of 12 statewide. However, the Springfield location was the only PACT office in the western part of the state, and serviced 60 clients.

According to CHD, those clients could now end up hospitalized or incarcerated because of a lack of resources for effective treatment for their mental illnesses. An administrator with the agency said the closure would be more costly for taxpayers by $46,000 per year per patient because of hospital expenses.

The money saved by eliminating the PACT office was used to reinstate 84 case management jobs.