Opposition is growing amid fears a multi-million-pound Angus psychiatric facility could close its doors.
A petition has gathered hundreds of signatures within days and campaigners are now calling for NHS Tayside to come clean about the future of the Mulberry Unit at Stracathro Hospital.
The health body has denied any firm plans to shut the unit, but it has admitted that it is included in a Tayside-wide review of mental health facilities.
As part of the review a consultation event took place at Stracathro which outlined that an option being considered by NHS Tayside was to close the Mulberry Unit and add an additional 20-bed ward at the Carseview Centre at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
The Mulberry Unit is the largest unit at the Susan Carnegie Centre at Stracathro with 25 beds for acute admission, assessment and treatment for adults with mental health problems.
The Susan Carnegie Centre was opened in December 2011 at the cost of £20 million and also contains the Willow Unit for people with dementia and the Rowan Unit for older people with mental health problems.
The petition has been started by Tannadice woman Jenny Laird, who has previously received mental health treatment in Tayside.
She said: “What upset me at the meeting was there was no mention about the distress this would cause people.
“The Mulberry Unit is surrounded by trees and wildlife it’s a very therapeutic surrounding. I think smaller units are best.
“Closing the unit would be very inconvenient for a lot of families visiting people at the unit.
“I put the petition up on Saturday. The response has been quite extraordinary and it’s great to see that so many people care.”
Director of mental health Dr Karen Ozden said: “There has been no decision made to close Mulberry Unit.
“Over the past two years, NHS Tayside has been reviewing its existing clinical models of care across the whole of Tayside and considering how to make best use of the facilities through our Mental Health Improvement Programme.
“A paper will be presented to NHS Tayside Board on Thursday, following which there will be a further period of wider engagement across communities in Tayside.”
If the board decides to make changes to the services, the NHS will conduct engagement and information-sharing across communities in Tayside.
“The NHS has said that there will be consultation before a final decision will be made and I’ll give them the petition during this consultation period,” Jenny, 33, added.