State mental hospital in Taunton has uncertain future

The Patrick administration announced in January it would close Taunton State Hospital, which has cared for mentally ill patients for more than 150 years. But a last-ditch effort to save the hospital has emerged in the State House, with the Senate voting to approve $6.6 million in the next fiscal year’s budget to keep open 72 beds, roughly 40 percent of its total number.