"The Director's Blog" (azdhs.gov)

THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS:
           FIRST) MY RECENT REQUEST FOR A DIRECT RESPONSE FROM ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES' (ADHS) DIRECTOR WILL HUMBLE IN RELATION TO STATEMENTS HE MADE IN AN ARTICLE THAT HE PUBLISHED LAST MARCH, WHEREIN HE APPLAUDS THE FACT THAT THE CURRENT CONDITIONS AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL (ASH) HAS CAUSED THE FACILITY TO BE: "DEFINITELY... A BUSY PLACE THESE DAYS... AND WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THE ENORMOUS PROGRESS. KUDOS  TO THE ENTIRE TEAM AT THE HOSPITAL."
           SECOND) THE ACTUAL ARTICLE THAT I AM REFERRING TO ABOVE, WRITTEN BY ADHS DIRECTOR WILL HUMBLE APPROXIMATELY 6 WEEKS AFTER I DISCHARGED FROM ASH ON FEBRUARY 21, 2012. I SUBMITTED MY REQUEST (AS DESCRIBED ABOVE) ON AUGUST 02, 2012, VIA THE ADHS WEB SITE, WHERE HUMBLE'S BLOG IS PUBLISHED, BUT BY THE TIME I GOT A CHANCE TO REVIEW THE SITE LATER IN THE EVENING, I SPOTTED THE PJ REED YOUR COMMENT IS AWAITING MODERATION FLAG AT THE TOP OF IT ALL. SO WE'LL SEE. DOES THIS MAN HAVE THE HUEVOS TO START FACING THE MUSIC BEFORE SOMEONE AT ASH GETS KILLED, TAKES THEIR OWN LIFE, IS MAIMED, OR SOME OTHERWISE SHOCKINGLY CRITICAL EVIDENCE TO THE EFFECT OF MY THUS FAR PEACEFUL AND GOOD FAITH REPORTS ABOUT THE SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL COMES ABOUT. BECAUSE IT WILL HAPPEN. THE CONDITIONS AT ASH ARE A POWDER KEG OF LETHAL HAZARDS THAT NO PATIENT AT ASH, NOR THEIR FAMILIES, NOR THE CITIZENS OF ARIZONA SHOULD BE FORCED TO ENDURE.     

ON THAT NOTE, READ ON, AND TRY NOT TO GET SICK.  
              
Our Arizona State Hospital’s “Culture of Care”
March 26th, 2012 by Will Humble


August 2, 2012 at 6:07 p.m.
PJ ReedYour comment is awaiting moderation.

Dear Mr. Humble: Two questions, and only two, which I will really surprised to see you answer in good faith. But, if you can and do in fact offer some nature of honest statement in response, then I and my peer-assocaties will greatly appreciate your time and effort in this context:
     1) I would love to hear input from ASH staff (other than executive staff, please, ideally your BHTs and non-supervisoral nursing staff, all of whom work closer to the patients that any other ASH staff) about these “Culture of Care” approaches, e.g. the “Non Violent Crisis Intervention"; as you surely know, many of these good hearted staff persons are very, very disturbed by the impacts of these changes, with particular respect for the marked increase in patient on patient violence, as well as direct threats to staff.
    2) As per AZ law, I would like to learn that an in-hospital Human Rights panel, represented by both members of the public as well as patients and their families, as per requirement under state and federal law, has been established and put into action by now, for in 2011 alone there were at least 15-18 requests for this to be created and arranged for by ASH executive staff; as wonderful as the news from your official blog might look to the general public, I know that the reality of patient life at ASH is anything but what the public might believe if all they can rely upon are vacuum-like statements such as your own upbeat advocacy about the health of ASH at this time.
  In closing, sir, and will all due respect, I plead with you to present your responses in public, ideally through your blog in clear and simple language, and feel free to use my name, even my true name (and not my pseudonym- I know that you know exactly who I am). It is never too late to do the right thing, not in my world, at least.  And for what is it worth, the Joint Commission is definitely part of a certain loop today (for the first time in my experience as an advocate, and not for publicizing a seemingly mythical description of how ASH should be ran, but rather in terms of the voices of patients and staff, who tell the true story). Thank you. (PJ REED)

HERE IS MR. HUMBLE'S BLOG ARTICE, TO WHICH I RESPONDED (AS SHOWN ABOVE)

Our Arizona State Hospital’s “Culture of Care”

March 26th, 2012 by Will HumbleLeave a reply »

We’ve had plans to change how we think about security at the Hospital for the last several months.  Our careful planning and organizing is paying off- as we’ve implemented many of our plans already and are turning the key on other reforms in the coming weeks and months.  It’s definitely been a busy place at the State Hospital these days- and we’re excited about the enormous progress.  Kudos to the entire team at the Hospital.

The reorganization of the security department basically increases mental health and residential program staff while decreasing security staff on the hospital units.  Our mental health and residential program staff are supplementing existing unit folks so security staff can step back from patient/resident observation and intervention responsibilities and focus on access and customer service duties.  These renamed “Campus Support and Safety Specialists” put an emphasis on a safe and supportive environment, something we’re striving to achieve for patients, residents, staff and visitors. 

We’re also shifting to “Non-Violent Crisis Intervention” as our operational model. Non-Violent Crisis Intervention is a nationally recognized best practice for intervention and de-escalation (created by the Crisis Prevention Institute). It’s widely used by health care providers, schools and many other settings that deal with potentially violent situations.  The program is based on teamwork.  By using a cohesive team that’s fully engaged in all aspects of care, we can better create an environment that is therapeutic for patients/residents and safe for everyone while providing employees a rewarding environment in which to work. 

Twenty-five staff have completed Non-Violent Crisis Intervention instructor training. Our new instructors are wearing yellow lanyards that say “NVCI Instructor” so everybody knows they’re our trainers.  The next goal is to train all employees in these valuable techniques in order to replace the current Pro-Act model that’s been in place for years.  The instructors are meeting regularly and will begin developing the “roll-out” strategy for the campus wide training.  A special thanks to our trainers-  they’ve stepped up and made themselves available to make the hospital a better place.

P.S. We found out this month that The Joint Commission has fully accredited the State Hospital for the next 3 years.  Thanks to the entire Hospital team- it’s not easy to get Deemed Status from the Joint Commission.  Well done! Will Humble, Director, ADHS
                                                                        END OF ARTICLE

IN CL0SING:  Shortly before I discharged from ASH, in late January, 2012 or so, I encountered one these "Campus Support and Safety Specialists", a young man who's name I cannot recall at this moment (it is in my records though, of this you can be sure), but I spoke with him about an issue directly effecting me at that time, and as we talked, he shared with me the fact that he had followed the supervisor at The Arizona State Hospital, Cory "crazycorycorner" Nelson down from South Dakota, where he had worked for Nelson in a prior civil position in that remarkably fiscally challenged state. And needless to say (perhaps), while the fellow offered me absolutely no comprehensive assistance, his vague and somewhat misleading statements made clear to me- that fast- that the "old boys club" patterns of Arizona's history are still in effect, hands down. This was of my last impressions about the state of ASH' current administrative officers, a young kid who stated to me that while he was not yet clear on what his entire job description was in fact, he basically planned to do whatever he was told. By Cory, that is: "His policies worked well in the hospital I worked for Cory at in South Dakota, so I'm willing to believe it will work here." Yep. Really encouraging stuff, let me tell you, and as I was in preparation to depart ASH, knowing that this was the state of affairs that my many friends at ASH (staff and patients alike) had to look forward to, I accepted the fact (yet again) that my relationship with ASH was far from over. In my own case, since departing ASH (to date) I have suffered from night terrors specific to fears at ASH, subtle paranoia in general, and basic post-traumatic anxiety, all of which is emotional and psychological features to my state of mind that I have either never experienced in my life, until I became a "client" of ASH/ADHS,

It's far from over, but I know precisely where things are going in terms of my stand against the diabolically unlawful substandard conditions at ASH for here on out. It is almost as though it is all out of my hands, in certain terms. But I still have the copyright(s) to my data. And I  have a lot of work to do in terms of getting over (if possible) the impacts of being subjected to the abuse that I suffered at ASH. I attest to these things, with more conviction than anything I have ever experienced in the whole of my life. Bottom line. 

paoloreed@gmail.com