COLUMBIA - The state still will provide the same level of outpatient services for clients of the state Mental Health Department after it sells its downtown hospital, agency officials say.

Concerns were raised recently that assistance for people with certain pervasive developmental disorders and Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, would be cut when the hospital is closed.

"Our intention is to have them (as) part of the new hospital," said Ron Prier, a physician and new chief executive officer of Columbia Behavioral Healthcare, which manages the services under a state contract.

The new hospital will be built near the old hospital, which will be closed when the Mental Health Department sells the William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute and the 178-acre grounds of the 200-year-old State Hospital in downtown.

About 590 people were treated on an outpatient basis for various needs at the institute last year, according to the state Department of Mental Health. Hall's outpatient clinics include evaluation and treatment services for the very young, those with developmental disorders, the deaf and hard of hearing and child victims of abuse.

The Hall institute also remains home to about 50 of the state's most severely emotionally disturbed children ages nine to 17, who are wards of the state. The children can't go to private psychiatric hospitals because they often are violent and pose dangers to themselves or others.

Last year, the Mental Health Department said it would build an 80-bed, $18 million children's psychiatric hospital on 14 acres near the State Hospital grounds. It should be complete in three years, agency officials say.

"There is no other place for services for these children," said Craig Stoxen, president and chief executive officer of the South Carolina Autism Society.

Outpatient services for the developmentally disordered through the state Department of Disabilities and Special Needs are limited to those diagnosed with autism.

There was some concern that the state might drop the services because of increased expenses and risk of dealing with the children. The state had cut services in the past when budgets were tight.

Prier said his management team is assessing all its services and reviewing cost, needs and who is being served.

The agency is awaiting a state Supreme Court ruling to find out if it will get the proceeds from the sale of the State Hospital property.