Centralia’s Murray Center will remain open for now because of community fundraisers, organizations, rallies, and a lawsuit from the people of the Centralia area.

Gov. Pat Quinn announced in February 2012 that he planned to close Centralia’s Warren G. Murray Developmental Center by November 2013, along with other state-funded facilities as part of his rebalancing plan to help relieve Illinois’ debt. The Murray Center houses 280 residents with developmental problems and has a 24-hour staff.

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As soon as word spread, organizations such as Save Murray Center, a citywide group, and Friends for Murray Center, an association for the employees, were founded to help halt the closure by creating signs, informing the public how to get involved and holding public rallies and meetings to raise awareness.

Then, the Murray Parents Association filed a federal lawsuit against the state in February. Rita Winkler, the association’s president, said the lawsuit claims the state is violating the Murray residents’ federal rights to an appropriate care facility under the American Disabilities Act and the Medicaid Act.

Winkler said action to close the center cannot happen until the lawsuit is finished. The lawsuit has moved the closure from Nov. 30th to an unset date, though hearings will begin in Chicago on Jan. 6.

Winkler said she has noticed the differences in the community-based homes and the care given at Murray. Winkler’s brother lives in a community-based home and her son lives at Murray.

Murray Center is not comparable to the community-based homes that would be offered upon the center’s closure, because those homes do not offer around-the-clock care or retain the consistent staff some residents might need, Winkler said.

Murray Center is on a 120-acre plot of land and has 16 buildings. Five of those buildings are residents’ halls that can hold up to 60 individuals each. The center also has an off-campus workshop.

“At this time there is nothing in the community that is capable for caring for our loved ones like Murray Center does,” she said.

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She said most of Murray’s staff have been with the center for around 20 years, which helps residents with similar cases.

Winkler said it is important that her son’s nurses know him very well, because he does not talk at all. She said her son became sick a few months ago, and the nurses knew something was wrong just by his noises and walk. He ended up having a bowel obstruction.

If the nurses are always new, Winkler said, that might have been overlooked.

Murray serves nearly 280 people with disabilities and even has a wheelchair program that helps 48 percent of residents who are in wheelchairs, according to the website. The program uses technology to mold the wheelchairs to the person’s needs, which relieves stress on other areas that may be caused by a patient’s posture.

Though Murray Center remains open, it may not be for long, said Tom Green, the communications director from the Department of Human Resources in an Associated Press article. A closure date is not set in stone, but it is still in the state’s plan to rebalance Illinois.

Green said the rebalancing plan was established to save state money and create more community-based care for the disabled; the lawsuit alleges that 250 Murray residents have severe disabilities that only an institution can appropriately accommodate.

SaveMurrayCenter.com was started after the center’s closure announcement and aims to inform the public why Centralia wants to keep the center open, as well as how others can get involved. The website lists several facts about the center, including that the center employs 550 people in an area where jobs are scarce — the city holds an 11.5 percent unemployment rate.

“Families fear that precipitous closure of Murray may cause a repeat of the tragedy that ensued in the wake of the closure of (Lincoln Ill’s) Lincoln Developmental Center (in 2002), when 26 of its former residents died after being forced to move to less suitable settings,” the website stated.

Winkler hopes the center will remain open permanently. She said it would be davastating if Murray closes because the center is very involved in the community, going on shopping trips and attending basketball games. She said the community has become very attached to seeing the residents, and enjoys their company.

Brooke Rollinson, a Centralia resident and office assistant at Schmidt Chevrolet Cadillac in Centralia said closing the center would not just affect those that work or live at Murray, but it would affect the entire community.

“I know it would hurt my business [Schmidt Chevrolet Cadillac],” Rollinson said.

She said Murray has a credit union for their employees and it helps the employees finance cars from Schmidt, and eliminating Murray would eliminate a lot of potential car buyers. Rollinson said it would greatly affect other businesses in similar situations.

She said pay cuts can help with the state debt, but jobs do not need to be eliminated.

Rob Jackson, a Centralia resident and home consultant at Brooks Village Green Homes in Johnston City, said he thinks Murray should stay open, though he can see why the state would try to close it.

“I feel like there is ample proof why Murray Center should stay open, for instance, the private care providers have already been found somewhat negligent in providing proper care for extreme cases like the ones at Murray Center,” Jackson said. “But as a former Marion Co. Board member, I also realize the need to cut spending. I just think the state should look at cutting spending elsewhere rather than to take away basic care for those who need it.”

Jackson said he believes Murray employees and their union should do their part in cutting costs. He said he has heard the center has a lot of overtime pay, big pensions and top health care providers for the employees. Jackson said cutting some of those expenses might be a way for Murray to stay open.

The closest center similar to Murray Center is four hours away, Winkler said, and four hours is an unrealistic distance to drive for residents like her son, who go home on weekends as well as the families that frequently visit the center.

Winkler said Centralia would continue to fight to keep Murray open.

Jordan VanDeveer can be reached at [email protected] 

or 618-536-3311 Ext. 246