RE Cory Nelson, Will Humble, Donna Noriega (not necessarily in that order). An update, January 26, 2016.
INTRODUCTION: Spotlight.
 |
Pervaiz "You aren't a felon?" Akhter.
ASH psychiatrist, 1999-2014
Punjab, Pakistan |
It might have been enough to know that they had simply moved on. That they had on any level gotten the message. Had taken into account- again, on any level- the significance of their reputation(s), as it stands, in 2016. Realized the fortuity of what I can only characterize as a soft, even subdued reaction to egregiously sick misconduct.
But that didn't happen.
For now.
If they'd simply moved on.
To any other place,
any other field of work,
any other income; working
in some, any other capacity
then that which earned them status
as degenerately unreliable "professionals",
who had once-
and oh, if only this was not the case-
had once been entrusted,
and then stricken from,
the entitlement to work
in public health care.
But that didn't happen.
They haven't left.
They haven't even sought,
much less found other work.
They continue in that capacity,
today, even as I write.
This is wrong. This has to stop.
Now.
Just go, already.
On that note, I thought it might be useful for those of you taking so strong an interest in this BLOG over the last week or so, to get an idea of what's "selling" right now. And while I would rather the focus be on unethical staff members still functioning in nonadministrative positions at the Hospital (psychiatric doctors, social workers, charge nurses, and some technicians), thus far not subject to meaningful oversight, despite the bare bones fact that the issues exposed to date via media and other sources were and are still occurrent due to the misconduct of ASH staff at every level of employ, the surge of recent attention has near singularly been directed at persons who no longer work at ASH. Which makes sense. I mean, heck, thanks to media, etc., it's now possible to identify such wrongdoers with no need to make any real effort; always easier to wait, in other words, until the shit really hits the fan, rather then take action when there's no recognized need.
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PART ONE: ADHS/BHS. The system.
No recognized need.
Yet to be acknowledged.
Unproven. Etc.
As though a viable excuse for
not doing the right thing.
But this is the very nature of bureaucracies, and the mindset of persons working in them. Stubborn resistance to change, pigeonholed staff positions, commitment to meeting little more then the minimal terms of job description(s); and hierarchal structures that leave no room for making waves. (Make waves, you die the slow death of a retaliated against victim.) Where judgements as to whether they (staff), or their superiors, do their work well are to be left to those in the hierarchy or to the organizations rules. In this sense, the persons working at lower positions in the given hierarchy at ASH are forced to become persons without a conscience, forced to function as such by those persons working farther up the food chain (charge nurses, and doctors, i.e.), and right on up as such to the top of it all (former ADHS director Will Humble and former ASH CEO/supervisor Cory Nelson very much come to mind); and to leave questions of right and wrong to the (hospital) supervisor, the (nurse) manager, or the organization as a whole (director). Thus, given that newly appointed higher-ups in the state of Arizona's health care administration (ADHS director Dr. Cara Christ, for example) have exercised an arguably minimal modicum of action, the bulk of the system representing the actual function of ASH at the hands on operational level has been left virtually untouched. And so it will remain if a much more thorough overhaul doesn't take place, not limited to scapegoating several middle level actors, a top to bottom approach with direct aim at the full array of involved parties.
Without going any deeper into the nature of bureaucracy, for the moment at least, I do want to emphasize that these factors most definitely underlie the grossly harmful disconnect that exists between persons granted administrative authority in ADHS/BHS/ASH and the patient experience itself. Early on in my time at ASH, I contacted and then met with a very qualified staff advocate from the state's office of human rights, John Gallagher, in order to discuss my concerns about rampant distribution and selling of illicit substances on the patient grounds at ASH, contraband that I knew was being supplied to a handful of patients by ASH staff. In discussing the fact that this activity was going on in full view of virtually all ASH staff, from housekeepers to Hospital administrators, even visitors, putting patients, staff and- yes the public- at risk, Mr. Gallagher introduced me to the concept of disconnect between staff- particularly administrative staff- and patients; he also shared with me the related fact that this was an issue (staff provided contraband) that had been visited before, and that there was no clear explanation for why administrators had not taken action to that date.
Beyond, that is, with respect for said disconnect, as I have come to examine the issue over the last 5 years. It is definitely there. A seemingly cavernous gulf between ASH administrators and the patient community; between ASH administrators and state/federal law; between ASH physicians and standardized medical practice and associated health care ethics; that in his opinion at the time, was directly contributing the developing crisis now demanding legislative action. And as time has served me with my now knowledge about the issues affecting the ASH patient community, via my own personal and related experiences of other patients, patients' families, etc., I fully understand and appreciate Mr. Gallagher's statements to the effect.
And with that taken into account- the disconnect between the thinking and actions of administrators and the day to day experiences of ASH patients- consider all implications specific to the fact that administrators such as Will Humble, Donna Noriega, and Cory Nelson are known to have been engaged in patently untruthful methods of communication during the period of time when they were running the given system. This became obvious between between 2011-2015, and applies with respect for lying to lower ranking ASH staff (as emphasized in Nelson's 2012 ASH Annual Report, which was critiqued in this BLOG [see "Why Do We Care? Herein, a consideration of Cory "meathead" Nelson's 2012 Arizona State Hospital Annual Report, aka 'The State of the Hospital' ". Copyright PJ Reed, September 26, 2012]); lying to the federal government (as emphasized by Nelson's overt attempt to diminish the merits and significance of a 2013 federal investigation of ASH [see ABC Ch15, March 14, 2014: Arizona State Hospital not at risk of losing Medicare funds", by David Biscobing]); and lying to the general public (see this BLOG: "A Modern Horror Story: Wherein the Administrators of the Arizona State Hospital Willfully Put the Safety of the Greater Phoenix Community at Risk In Order to Avoid Scrutiny, Leading to the Brutal Murder of a Citizen". Copyright PJ Reed April 5, 2012; Arizona Republic, September 29, 2011: "Victim's family questions why man was free." by JJ Hensley).
Herein, lower ranking ASH staff (psychiatric doctors, charge nurses, social workers, and some technicians), federal authorities, and the greater public, relied upon the administrators of ASH and their counterpart officials in ADHS/BHS to provide information about the operation of ASH across the board. We see, thus, not factual and/or legitimate information in the context, but rather, as exemplified by the evidence, graphically damaging and outright deceptive miscom-munication that I contend is the root cause for the rampant presence of patient abuse, substandard care practices, and generally below par conditions in the overall "state of the hospital", as it has stood for far too many years.
I would love to learn that persons such as current ASH CEO/supervisor Dr. Aaron Bowen and current ADHS director Dr. Cara Christ are willing and able to take these elements of the system they work in seriously. If not, the risk of them only metamorphosing into common bureaucrats- ala' their predecessors- runs too-too high. It is that simple.
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PART II: Discussion
The three (3) Rat Bastards identified in the above title, of course, represent a very slim proportion of the ones who played central roles in this scandal. There are any number of abusive ASH charge nurses, technicians, and supposedly humane psychiatrists still functioning in their given positions at the tax payers expense, and to the harmful detriment of ASH patients. But for the moment, these vagrants will do. For it is those persons running the operation of ASH, be they on-site (Nelson, Noriega), or not (Humble) who most significantly contributed to the crisis at ASH; and beyond that, it is also they who they who are getting all the attention, right now, right here, in this BLOG. In considering the fact these three, former administrators, played so significant a role in bringing about the scandal itself, take into account as well that their given replacements (Bowen, Christ, etc.) now share the onus of taking action capable of clearing up the matter once and for all, on behalf of the ASH patient community, and as per the public trust. Anything less will only lead to furthering the substandard conditions at ASH, as they still stand today. A bit better? As per the relatively minor changes thus far enacted? Sure. A bit.
But there is still much to do. And the need extends well into the structure of the bureaucracy known as Arizona Department of Health Services.
As new data has been shared by us about where and what the one's directly responsible for the ugliest public mental hospital scandal in the new millennium are up to these day, we're seeing a distinct surge in reader hits; or "dedicated visits", as the blogspot.com format calls 'em, meaning at least 20 minutes in time/per visit, enough to peruse at least one or more full article. The newest articles, meanwhile, have indeed been all about former ASH CEO/ADHS-BHS Deputy Director Cory "This is the type of s--- that gets people in my position fired" Nelson, former ASH COO/CEO Donna "You are sooo busted!" Noriega, and former ADHS Director Will "Yea team!!!" Humble.
Always interesting to study the trends when it comes to such attention, which historically have tended to parallel breaking news aired by various Phoenix area media, such as seen on Arizona Family channel 3 (KTVX); (see "Security Changes at the state hospital." Originally posted August 14, 2012; updated March 10, 2015. [www.azfamily.com] ), and the far more prominent ABC Ch15 (KNXV); (see "ABC15 Investigates the Arizona State Hospital." [17 piece series] By David Biscobing, 2013-present. [www.ac15.com]).
Important to note that on our end, as well, that the above mentioned mass media reports also aired in direct proximity to data published in this blog. These media affiliates have more resources, mainly in the sense of money and staff resources, not to mention journalistic experience, then we do; so in essence, our data has been taken to new heights, thanks to the participation of these news stations in considering the information provided here in the BLOG, and the willingness to conduct their own independent investigations.
Therein, a spirit of collaboration in action.
Because someone had to do
something.
But as I have already said, the most recently recorded attention to this BLOG has arisen in direct association with the post apocalyptic career tracks of the above named state officials (as reported in the BLOG of late), all three identified in a wide variety of ways as being deeply engaged in deceiving the citizens of Arizona with respect for the substandard care practices and conditions in the state's sole long term mental hospital. In violation of the public trust, to the detriment of the citizens of Arizona, and at the painful expense of ASH patients. I reckon it's only a matter of time, ergo, before one or another of the aforementioned mass media sources gets on board and publishes their own version of these developments. Until that time, it's up to us.
And, yes, interesting to follow the trends, yet heart wrenching. Merely because it is just that much more clear that not much has changed, in fact. Which, in turn, keeps us going. Until it's done.
Now for some history. The Arizona State Hospital was founded in 1885, and opened in 1887. At the same location where it stands today, on Van Buren. Butted right between a jail facility and the county medical hospital, behind fences and walls that most Phoenicians have little to no idea about. There are all sorts of stories, about the old graves, about the farm, about the feral cats, and on these stories go, much as it likely always has been.
And even way back then, in the late 1880s, the language underlying the objective of ASH read as follows:
" [a] place as shall be in their judgement be best for the safety of said insane person and of the community...." (excerpt, February, 1871, Arizona legislative record; taken from www. asylum projects.org)
NOTE: With the above language above in mind, two weeks to the day following my admission to ASH (January 28, 2011), in a 1:1 meeting, I informed my first primary attending ASH physician, Laxman "Can't even ride a bicycle" Patel, that I had witnessed physical and psychological abuse imparted by ASH staff upon other patient-peers who shared my then treatment unit, Desert Sage east. I brought this information to Patel in good faith, and as per Hospital protocol, which clearly dictates that ASH patients begin any process of lodging complaints or other like concerns by communicating as such with their doctor. It was my expectation that Patel would meet his given responsibility in the context, which is to take such concerns seriously, and to take meaningful action should there be any possible merits to such concerns.
Which, as we all know by now, there were.
In response and at that time, Patel told me this, verbatim:
"What do you expect? This is the state hospital."
(FROM ABOVE, ASH TO SERVE AS A "...place ...best for the safety of said insane person and of the community...)
Patel also told me, in no uncertain terms when it came my unwillingness to relent with the rampant presence of abusive staff misbehavior and related administrative misconduct in mind:
"Stop nitpicking!"
This is the same doctor, Laxman Patel who under Cory Nelson's authority, later came to be the Hospital's Chief Medical Officer. Only briefly, thank the stars, he was gone justas soon as Nelson's "shit" hit the proverbial fan. It was that bad.
So much for legislative language. As I have said before, I couldn't make this stuff if I had to. This, the nature of these freaks, far beyond the simple understanding of anybody- American or otherwise- possessing a reasonable sense of conscientious. And yet, Laxman Patel is still practicing his under par role as a primary care physician at ASH, along with Steven Dingle....... and we're not sure who else. For now.
In contemporary terms, ASH is still the sole long term public health care facility that persons affected and disabled by serious mental illness (under federal law) from all areas of the state arrive to in order to be provided with optimum medical-mental health care. All such citizen-consumer-patients are referred to ASH through a state side country level health care system, and related short term psychiatric health care facilities, such as University of Arizona South Campus (formerly Kino Hospital, where my reference to ASH was established by my well qualified doctor, Dr. Stokes). The presumption of such referring facilities is that such ASH is capable of providing reasonably optimum mental health care, a position also held by the patients of ASH, as well, and patients' families, and the general public. Said general public, most of whom know or are directly related to someone so affected-, perhaps not by serious mental illness- but most definitely by some nature of emotional or psychological challenges, rely on state level health care officials to not only care for the state's seriously mentally ill citizens, but to also ensure optimum community safety with respect for the greater public interest.
Again, many people have relatives affected by mental illness. Serious depression, for example, (which is the primary underlying disorder that (I) the founder of this BLOG is affected by), affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, and such, is the most most common form of mental illness in our culture today (Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005); similarly, depression is the cause of over two thirds of the 30,000 reported suicides in the U.S. each year, (White House Conference on Mental Health, 1999), (which also correlates to my struggles with mental illness over the years). There are a number of less common forms of mental illness that also contribute to the need for many Americans to seek help in long terms mental hospitals, from bi-polar disorder, to schizophrenia, and more generalized forms of psychosis that extend far beyond the lay understanding of a writer such as I. But the fact is, with these statistics in mind, many of the persons seeking reasonably decent care in facilities such as ASH have relations in the greater community, where ever one happens to reside. But arguably, no one public mental hospital in the United States shares the recent horrific stories now emanating from Arizona, as the ongoing investigation(s) of ASH and the broader Arizona behavioral/mental health care system advances.
This is not to say that horror stories about the conditions in public mental health facilities is unique to American history. Far from it, in fact. This aspect of our history is something that most reasonably informed Americans share; whether via popular culture (the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" comes immediately to mind, and trust me when I say, that facility and Nurse Ratchet are nothing in comparison to the abuses at ASH), or more concerted studies of this subject (as found in scholarly medical journals and academic treatises), most anyone knows that persons forced by mental illness to spend extended time in such facilities are likely to be subjected to below par health care and general treatment, including but far from limited to grossly inhumane forms of abuse. Sad but true. And one need not look far on the internet for countless sources of information in this context.
But as we at PJ Reed The Arizona State Hospital and Patient Abuse have been saying all along, in contemporary terms (this with respect for medical advances and heightened awareness of the long standing stigma against the mentally ill, including as it has historically arose in facilities such as ASH), there is no readily available explanation for how the now exposed corruption and related substandard care practices and conditions at ASH have been so rampantly occurrent in recent years. No answer, that is, beyond recognizing the fact that Arizona's overall public health care system is in crisis. As stated in an August, 2012, article in this BLOG:
"The fact is, all the funding in the world is not going to make much difference in the lives of Arizona'a seriously mentally ill citizens if the state's behavioral health care system is administered in the radically disorganized fashion that is has been for all of these years. The Arizona Department of Health/Behavioral Health Services and its affiliated, subcontracted regional behavioral health authority agencies, who in turn have their own subcontracted provider agencies, is deeply thick with paper pushers and mid-level district managers who have little idea of how to manage the very real needs of a client base that is far too large and relatedly complex for the mechanisms of such a system. And as I have learned the hard way, many of the highest ranking members of the state's behavioral health system willfully disregard applicable standards of law and policy in order to assure that their career paths remain on track. It is a behemoth sized, classically ineffective bureaucracy thorough and through, and way way down at the bottom of it all, are the mentally disabled individuals who experience nothing short of outright and systemic ineptitude that clearly lies at the root of all of my primary concerns today." (Copyright PJ Reed. 2012. "Arnold v. Sarn And a Spare $38.7 Million. A brief glance at Arizona's fairly recent history in relation to its mentally ill citizens." ) (*)
That said, as we have been following the course of history specific to the operation of ASH, this after the spring of 2015, when no less then six (6) state employed individuals directly associated with the operation of ASH were summarily fired by the new director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, Dr. Cara Christ, it is apparent that my suppositions- as stated in the above excerpt (*) from an article I drafted less then ninety (90) days after my Feb. 2012 discharge from ASH, almost four full years ago- are more then somewhat accurate. As follows.
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Will "Yea team!!!" Humble
Former director ADHS.
Still getting away with it. |
A) Will Humble
Who, as Director of the Arizona Department of Health during that period of time when the now known scandal specific to ASH was occurring, did as a matter of plain fact hire the one man most directly responsible for bringing this about, former ASH Chief Executive Officer Cory Nelson, and furthermore, promoted Nelson into the position of Deputy Director of the state's entire behavioral heath system. Humble gave Nelson this gravely disturbing promotion despite the building evidence about the grossly substandard care practices and overall conditions at ASH, as illustrated by at least one federal investigation and associated probationary period, the data contained to that time in this BLOG, and the emerging investigation by major media sources in the city ofof Phoenix, where ASH is located. To me, this promotion appeared much like an award, as though Humble was overtly commending Nelson for his abject dereliction of duty with respect for the public trust. This is merely one graphic example of the concerns I had and still have about Will Humble.
And what might this fumbling bureaucrat be doing at this point in time? Well, as reported last spring (March 31, 2015, by) in the Phoenix Business Journal (March 31, 2015, by Angela Gonzales):
"Will Humble, who resigned in March as director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, has landed at the University of Arizona, where he has served as adjunct faculty for nearly a dozen years. On April 13, he will begin his new position as division director for health policy and evaluation at the Center for Population Science and Discovery at the Arizona Health Sciences Center. His new office will be on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, which also houses UA’s medical school…. And now he is set to receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree from UA at its commencement ceremonies on May 16, for his 'dedication to the profession of public health and to its pursuit in Arizona,' according to a statement from UA." (March 31, 2015. By Angela Gonzales).
And there it is. Just one active member involved in the squalidly unethical scandal as it stands, carrying on at one Arizona's state funded universities as though nothing ever happened. Anywhere else in the world, this might be considered pretty sneaky. In Arizona, however, it's standard practice.
B) Cory Nelson
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Cory "This is the type of
shit that gets people like
me fired!" Nelson.
Former now fired ASH CEO.
Still getting away with it. |
Herein, the certified charlatan who arrived in Arizona in the summer of 2011, shortly after departing his prior position with South Dakota's human services system under a cloud of scandal, as reported in a prominent regional newspaper (see: "HSC Pay Raise Sparks Questions. Administrator Receives $10,000 pay Increase." By Nathan Johnson. Yankton Press & Dakotan, July 10, 2010). And a man with far, far more experience and actual training specific to the prison industry- again, in South Dakota- then anything else, including and especially health care in any context. Only to have been exposed in spring 2015, which I had been predicting for over three full years, as being 100% involved in utterly unethical misconduct specific to the operation of ASH since- literally- the day he was hired by Will Humble to oversee the Hospital's general activities and affairs. What sort of work might Cory "This is the type of shit that gets people in my position fired" Nelson be looking for right now? As follows, this taken directly off of Nelson's current (January 2016) professional biography, which he has posted with LinkedIn.com:
Cory Nelson is an accomplished health care executive who has led large organizations in both the hospital and managed care environment. As a national expert he has presented for numerous organizations and at national conferences. His primary areas of expertise include integrated health care, hospital administration and leadership, crisis system development and managed care innovation. Experienced in both health care and government, Cory provides a unique blend of industry knowledge with the ability to navigate complex government regulations, manage the legislative process and provide actionable outcomes. Leading through a strategic vision, stakeholder engagement, strong communication, principled decision making and valuing people, Cory can help any entity with organizational development, leadership, innovation, integration and collaboration with other entities.
Contact Cory at NelsonHealthCareConsultingLLC@gmail.com for all your consulting needs.
There that is. The one dirt bag most behind the problems still facing the patients at ASH, the citizen-taxpayers, and the state legislature. hanging out his "shit" on a shingle, still trying to dupe the state's residents in the socio-psychopathic manner that underlies his general mis-behavioral characteristics.
And as to the directive: "Contact Cory.... etc." Why don't we get right to it, eh'? Not to offer the Rat Bastard any work, or seek anything along the lines of his twisted idea of "consultation"; who in their right mind would do that? Rather, to let him know that he's not going anywhere in terms of his known performance record, as it stands.
Maybe South Dakota would take him back... but even that's doubtful. As though we care.
Just so long as he goes.
C) Donna Noriega.
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Donna "You are sooo busted!" Noriega
Former now fired ASH CEO.
Still getting away with it. |
Meanwhile, the lone she wolf in the bunch is the one getting all the attention right now. Here at the BLOG, that is, with respect for the fact that she has taken a supervisory clinical position overseeing the care need and interest of at-risk young women. Working for an organization that deems itself of use and purpose specific to the needs of abused or otherwise in crisis adolescents.:
Donna Noriega.
CLINICAL DIRECTOR.
Florence Crittenton.
August 2015-present.
715 Mariposa Street,
Phoenix, AZ. 85013.
It is notable that of the five or six recent articles we have published in the BLOG, Noriega's particularly nefarious path of activity is getting the most attention (303 dedicated hits, to the article(s) about HER in less then 2 weeks), but I can't be certain why. Is it because this is the woman who worked for ASH for well over 10 years prior to being FIRED in spring 2010, right along with Cory Nelson and no less then four other individuals directly associated with the operation of ASH during that period of time when- as we all know by now- highly unlawful administrative corruption was occurring as matter of standard practice, which did directly contribute to ongoing abuses of ASH patients across the board? Or because the world now knows that she's the woman who was also found guilty by an affiliated state licensing committee of patently lying and abusing her authority as a licensed behavioral heath examiner in 2010, when she was in fact working at ASH (see October 01, 2014: "RE: Donna Noriega. Busted!." Copyright PJ Reed, 2014)? Whatever the case, what's most crucial to understand is that despite this record from 2010 (as with most such wrongdoers in the state's administrative bureaucracy, the bitch got off with a virtual slap on the hand), Noriega was also there when Nelson arrived in Arizona in summer, 2011, and simply must have had a lot to do with his initial training as the Hospital's new CEO, this given her experience. Which begs the question: What exactly might she have shared with him when it comes to the means by which to keep the substandard conditions at ASH in effect? And with this crucial inquiry in mind, what might we suspect Noriega brought to the table once she was granted another opportunity to function as a person obligated to ensure optimum care on behalf of persons vulnerable and risk of abuse and related administrative misconduct?
Frightening, the thought, and yet here it is (below). A key example of how this person sells herself off as someone to be trusted.
As follows, this taken directly off Noriega's current (January 2016) professional biography, which he has posted with LinkedIn.com:
"TOP SKILLS." Behavioral Health. Social Services. Program Development. Mental Health. Case Management. Nonprofits. Community Outreach. Public Health. Program Evaluation.
"Donna also knows about..." Healthcare. Mental Health Counseling. Clinical Supervision. Conflict Resolution. Psychotherapy. Crisis Intervention. Grant Writing. Family Therapy. Healthcare Management. Treatment. Adolescents. Motivational... (sic). Group Therapy. Counseling Psychology. Staff Development.
"Top Skills!?!" How about lying, deception, and utter disregard for the terms of her very licensure? Engaging for who knows how many years in violating not only the rights of over 280 seriously mentally ill and disabled citizens-consumers, but also the most fundamental tenets of her employment contract with the state, undeniably involved in an egregious breach of the public trust. All of it, so senseless that it makes almost perfect sense...
Only in Arizona, continued. For the moment, that is.
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PART III: Conclusion.
As stated already. With the primary mission of PJ Reed The Arizona State Hospital and Patient Abuse in mind, it might have been enough simply to know that these three had been removed from active employment in the Arizona public health care system. Removed as a direct consequence of their shockingly questionable misconduct specific to the Arizona State Hospital. Fired, in fact. At which point, I may have once hoped, that they would get the message, and thus take a new course of life planning, something, anything other then involvement in public health care.
But that didn't happen. For, as illustrated, each one of these persons is still functioning in highly trusted positions of relative authority, doing so in relation to the public trust and directly related common interest, with no seeming regard for the factual history specific to their known ineptitude. And that's putting it nicely.
What more need be said? How much more information do the citizens of Arizona need when it comes to grasping the how and whys about the graphic shortfalls in our state's public healthcare system? To know as we do that the new director of ADSH, Dr. Cara Christ, has yet to take meaningful action when it comes to Dr. Steven Dingle, who to our knowledge, is still functioning as ASH's Chief Medical Officer! Or that ASH's current Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Aaron Bowen, is similarly neglecting taking such action, be it in the case of Dingle, or as it applies to ASH's various primary attending physicians, each one of whom actively engaged in condoning the now proven abuses and related staff misconduct that have led to highly avoidable deaths, and other like tragedies.
And again, as already stated: The fact is, all the funding in the world is not going to make much difference in the lives of Arizona'a seriously mentally ill citizens if the state's behavioral health care system is administered in the radically disorganized fashion that is has been for all of these years. Nor is firing only a proportion of those individuals directly involved in the long standing corruption at ASH. Those persons now running the show at the top of ADHS and ASH need to thoroughly exercise due diligence with respect for clearing up the core issues at stake, as they still stand. Anything less will fail to bring about meaningful deterrence, and will only further the willingness of anyone not yet held accountable to continue with their grossly inhumane misbehavior.
The fact remains, too, that many of the highest ranking members of the state's behavioral health system willfully disregard applicable standards of law and policy in order to assure that their career paths remain on track. This does, necessarily speaking, relate to the ADHS Office of Grievances and Appeals. As the firing of AHDS' "rules expert" attorney Jeff Bloomberg indicates, there are distinct gaps in the overall network of these type offices, classically ineffective bureaucracy through and through.
It is that bad, and it's ongoing. Because people are still getting away with it. Day after freaking day.
And through their obvious indifference when it comes to thoroughly taking full action in this context, persons such as Dr. Christ and Dr. Bowen are only fueling the likelihood that....
It's only a matter of time before the state of affairs at ASH slide right back into an abject atmosphere of substandard care practices and and overall conditions.
Not that facility has yet to fully recovered from that state, as things stand right now.
... And way way down at the bottom of it all, far outside the experiences of paper pushing administrators and their given propaganda, are the mentally disabled patient-consumers at ASH, all of them my former peers and for whom I have always stood in defense of- who are even now experiencing nothing short of outright and systemic ineptitude. This is occurring at the expense of ASH patients, patients' families, and to the detriment of the greater public, many of whom do, whether they know or not, have relatives similarly in need of medical help in this context. Relatives effected by long enduring forms of stigma based discrimination, which I know for a fact underlies the crass brutality of numerous ASH staff, including ASH psychiatrists, the majority of whom were educated and trained in nation's with no fundamental presence of democracy or respect for human rights.
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Pervaiz Akhter
Former ASH psychiatrist?
Trying to smile. |
SIDE NOTE: It would appear that Pervaiz Akhter, who I attest to being the most coldhearted and disingenuous doctors I have ever encountered, may have departed ASH, much as several other ASH staff did once the stomach churning abuses of ASH patients made the news. As described in previous articles, upon meeting me for the first time, Akhter blatantly asked me, "Are you really not a felon?", as though to suggest that any person affected by mental illness is criminal in nature; conduct that is 100% consistent with the abject stigma and discrimination(s) that have far too long colored society's interpretation of the mentally ill, across the board. Exhibited in this case by a medically certified psychiatric provider, and simply oh-so typical of the staff at ASH. Somewhat blows me away to realize that Akhter can even crack a smile. Seriously, this is a man who presented an unabated scowl and seemingly frozen countenance anytime he might have been seen on the grounds of ASH, including when meeting with me on a 1:1 basis for the three months that he was my doctor; a demeanor personified by his photo at the top of this article. That's the real Akther.
Get used to that prior photo, too, for I have decided on it: Akhter's "spooky" mug will take the cover of all future articles, and the book.
Way to go, doctor.
And let this be fair warning to any clients of Valley Psychiatric Hospital, 3550 E. Pinchot Ave., Phoenix, AZ, 85108, for if my suspicions in the context are solid, this is where he is hiding out. Be afraid.
IN CLOSING: Yes, interesting to recognize the trends when it comes to attention given to the BLOG. But equally heart wrenching, for the fact remains that any number of clearly unethical individuals are still functioning in gross defiance of the public trust. I can guarantee you, oh reader, that the bulk of energy directed towards reading this BLOG, particularly when it comes to fresh material, comes from those Rat Bastards filling the bulk of content. Them, and their counterparts who work in similar positions, within Arizona and without. Waiting, they are, for the fallout. Let's make that happen. Until we do, nothing will change.
paoloreed@gmail.com
