HAVERHILL — The former Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital at 76 Summer St. has received state approval to provide psychiatric services to patients.

A July 29 letter from the state Department of Mental Health authorizes five patient beds in the hospital's new geriatric psychiatry unit. The letter says the Haverhill-based Whittier Health Network plans 24 such rooms in the south wing of the hospital, which is just east of downtown. The hospital is known as the Whittier Pavilion.

In May, Whittier moved 60 beds and 48 patients receiving physical rehabilitation services from the 52,000-square-foot Summer Street facility to a larger, more modern facility in the Ward Hill Business Park. Summer Street neighbors immediately began wondering what the health network planned at the old hospital site, and several voiced great concern when they learned the plan was to treat psychiatric patients there.

The Summer Street hospital, which opened in 1982, is in a residential neighborhood. It is a short walk from the public library and City Hall. Zoning in that part of the city requires a special permit from the City Council for a psychiatric hospital.

However, Whittier officials contend they do not need a special permit to provide psychiatric care there because the facility will also continue to provide rehabilitation services, just as it has for more than 25 years.

In a May interview, Alfred J. Arcidi, senior vice president for the Whittier network, said many of the network's rehabilitation patients who have suffered strokes or severe injuries also suffer from mental problems such as depression.

"It's going to be for psychiatric patients who need rehabilitation services, so it falls under the special permit they already have for the building," Haverhill Economic Development Director William Pillsbury also told The Eagle-Tribune in May. "They aren't going to have methadone treatment, and it's not going to be for long-term care."

The city did change its position two weeks ago.

A July 31 letter from building inspector Richard Osborne to Arcidi says the occupancy permit for the Summer Street building does not cover any new uses such as psychiatry.

"If it is your intention to license and operate the new Whittier Pavilion as a psychiatric mental health facility, it is my opinion that you will need a special permit from the City Council for this change or modification of existing use," Osborne wrote.

Yesterday, however, the city changed its position again. City Solicitor William Cox said a new letter is on its way to Whittier officials reversing Osborne's July 31 opinion. Cox said Whittier officials recently convinced the city that the hospital has provided psychiatric services intermittently over the years, so it is not a new use at Summer Street.

"They have given us affidavits from staff psychiatrists that they did provide care and services to psychiatric patients in the building," Cox said. "They also had a contract at one time with Danvers State Hospital to treat psychiatric patients."

Psychiatric services were allowed at Summer Street then because zoning rules from when the building was built in the early 1960s did not require any special approvals for a psychiatric facility, Cox said.

"They have promised us there will be no psychiatric patients there who do not also have rehabilitation needs," Cox said. "We're satisfied this (psychiatric facility) is not a new use. It's a dual facility."

Cox said it is his understanding there are already a few patients at the Summer Street facility, but that Whittier slowed down accepting new patients as it has been resolving the zoning issue with the city.

Phone calls to Whittier officials for comment on this story were not returned.

Whittier must get subsequent state approvals to add more psychiatric rooms at Whittier Pavilion.

"Decisions to increase census will be based on the availability of trained staff, physician coverage, physical plant readiness, as well as general compliance with applicable department requirements," the July 29 letter from the state Department of Mental Health says.

Whittier Pavilion is expected to provide up to 200 new jobs in the city. The new hospital is also expected to continue providing physical therapy and other inpatient services for people who don't want to travel to the new Ward Hill hospital for services, Whittier officials said previously.

The Whittier network includes 10 rehabilitation hospitals, health care centers and nursing homes in Greater Haverhill and throughout the state. Hannah Duston Healthcare Center, The Whittier Pharmacist Inc. and Whittier Healthcare Agency are members of the network in Haverhill.