Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin said Thursday that Vermont State Hospital, a 54-bed psychiatric hospital in Waterbury, which was closed after Tropical Storm Irene, will not re-open.

The state said it plans to establish a long-term agreement with Brattleboro Retreat, a mental-health and addiction treatment facility, which would provide 14 acute-care beds. It will also fund two “step-down” facilities as well as continue to search for a facility that can provide 15 additional acute-care beds.

“Building a replacement facility is years away at best, and we need to put services in place now to ensure all Vermonters have access to the care they need,” Shumlin said in the news release. “The absence of the hospital creates the opportunity to fund community services for recovery that can help prevent the need for hospitalization.”

Some Vermont State Hospital patients had been moved to Fletcher Allen Health Care following the storm.