Cory Nelson's Ongoing Lies: Which to date have been clearly revealed on prime time television, have had no impact at all on Arizona Department of Health director Will "Yea team! Humble, because at this time, Nelson is still in the position as the acting Director of AZ Behavioral Health Services.

CORRECT ME IF THIS SOUNDS INACCURATE. BUT IN TERMS OF HOW BUSINESSES (INCLUDING HOSPITALS) GENERALLY MANAGE THE PRESENCE OF PROVEN POOR PERFORMANCE SPECIFIC TO ANY GIVEN EMPLOYEE'S CONDUCT AND RELATED RESPONSIBILITIES, WOULD YOU EXPECT SUCH EMPLOYEES TO BE REWARDED AT TIMES WHEN THEIR CONDUCT IS SUSPECT AND UNDER INVESTIGATION? I SAY NO TO THIS QUESTION, AND I DO SO EMPHATICALLY, IN THE SENSE THAT CORY NELSON (WHO WAS CONTRACTED TO SERVE AS THE SUPERVISOR OF THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, AND NOTHING MORE), HAS BEEN GRANTED AN INORDINATELY AMOUNT OF RESPONSIBILITY IN CLEAR RELATION TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF ARIZONA'S GREATER CITIZENRY, ACROSS THE BOARD. LIKEWISE, I HAVE YET TO FIND ANYONE NOT IN FUNDAMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH THIS BASIC CONCEPT, PARTICULARLY IN TERMS OF THE ISSUES AT STAKE IN THIS MATTER. IT IS A TRAVESTY THROUGH AND THROUGH THAT IS OCCURRING AT THE DIRECT EXPENSE OF ARIZONA'S MOST SERIOUSLY MENTALLY ILL AND DISABLED CITIZENS.  

IN OTHER WORDS: WHILE IT MAY BE TRUE IN THE REAL WORLD THAT INCOMPETENCE AND INEPTITUDE HAVE VERY REAL CONSEQUENCES, OVER IN  THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, THE BEST WAY TO GAIN PROMOTION WITHIN THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES WILL COME BY ENGAGING IN ARGUABLY UNLAWFUL CONDUCT THAT DIRECTLY DETRIMENTS THE WELFARE OF YOUR CLIENTS, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY DIMINISHING THE QUALITY OF YOUR LOWER RANKING STAFFS' WORK EXPERIENCES. 

This has all been irrefutably confirmed by the fact that:

 DR. STEVEN DINGLE (who, amongst other things, was 100% behind the grossly malfeasant cover up Jesus Rincon Murietta's May, 2011, escape from ASH, a cover up that directly led to the horrific murder of an innocent young woman named April Mott, and caused a ripple effect specific to the impacts of that cycle of violence which is still causing ongoing trauma for both Ms. Mott's loved ones, as well as Mr. Murietta's family).

AND:

CORY NELSON (who in recent months has repeatedly engaged in untruthful statements made during prime time interviews with several major Phoenix area news outlets specific to ongoing safety issues and related graphic violence at ASH, including at least 6 patient escapes, one of which led to the brutal murder of April Mott , thus illustrating in very clear terms that Nelson's management of the affairs at ASH has blatantly failed to meet the expectations of Arizona's citizens)

WERE GRANTED SUBSTANTIAL PROMOTIONS WITHIN THE GREATER FRAMEWORK OF THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING HAVING ENGAGED IN GROSSLY UNJUST CONDUCT SPECIFIC TO THEIR PREVIOUS RESPONSIBILITIES/OBLIGATIONS. 

THAT'S RIGHT. DO A CRAPPY JOB OF TENDING TO THE CARE NEEDS OF THE SERIOUSLY MENTALLY ILL AND DISABLED PATIENT-CLIENTS AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, AND YOU GET A PROMOTION. BUSINESS AS USUAL, IN OTHER WORDS, IN THE STATE OF ARIZONA TODAY.  IT REALLY IS THAT BAD! 

NUTSHELL: Keeping in mind the ridiculous fact that Laxman P. Patel is now serving as the Chief Medical Officer at the Arizona State Hospital (Patel being a man with three decades of experience specific to the highly questionable mental-medical health care and practices at The Arizona State Hospital), take a moment to consider the following aspect of how things go there at ASH. Following a very specific hiring process and related protocol that occurred during the spring and summer of 2011, Cory Nelson was granted the privilege and responsibility of overseeing the affairs of Arizona's sole long term public mental health facility, The Arizona State Hospital. ASH is a hospital, in fact, and there are approximately 280-300 seriously mentally ill and disabled adults there who rely upon ASH's staff in general to provide them with nothing short of reasonable medical care, and the need for executive staff who can dedicate their full energy into maintaining that basic standard is critical. There is no justification for compromising whatever stability might happen to be in effect when it comes to ASH's administrative staff structure, and anything to the contrary suggests that the various positions in that structure have no legitimate basis; it is as though Will Humble is playing musical chairs, in other words, in terms of moving Arizona's highest paid health care employees from one position to another with no apparent regard for the actual positions that such individuals were hired to fill. In my opinion as a former patient at ASH, taxpayer, and human being, this entire situation reeks of professional misconduct that borders on government corruption. 

In this specific context, Cory Nelson was not hired/granted to exercise any authority beyond the specific position of supervisor at The Arizona State Hospital. In spite of this, in late summer 2012, the highest authority in Arizona's department of health services, director Will Humble, opted to address executive staff shortages in his overall dynasty as Arizona's czar of public health by removing Nelson from his position at ASH and appointing the man to the (vacant) position of "interim" Director of ADHS' largest sub-agency, AZ Behavioral Health Services. Simultaneous to this clearly unreasonable action, in the last 4-8 months, a number of very significant investigations into gross mismanagement practices at ASH that were implemented in Nelson's first full year at ASH emerged in at least two major Phoenix area news media sources (including the local ABC affiliate, CH 15), and during several related personal interviews included in those news reports, both Nelson and Humble were filmed/recorded issuing formal statements that were patently false and misleading, and clearly designed to mask the critical realties specific to these issues as they stand. The role of these news agencies in trying to provide the citizens of Arizona clear and open access/awareness of how well our state's most seriously mentally ill and disabled fellow citizens are being cared for at The Arizona State Hospital has been irrefutably pissed upon, and anyone of the tens of thousands of people who saw those interviews knows it. Therein, the public reactions to these interviews, as readily available in the comments sections provided on each stations' website (again, PHX Ch 15, and Ch 12), have been uniformly patterned as nothing short of outrage over how and why Arizona's most authoritative health care officials could be graphically involved in allowing for the issues raised by these reports, issues that have been exposed in more than one good faith investigation, including via data provided in this blog, and in all practical senses, issues that are ongoing at this time. These developments have occurred somewhat in relation to my specific work, as illustrated in the blog and so on, and I have also been receiving boatloads of communication from individuals who have very direct interest in the welfare of ASH's seriously mentally ill and disabled patients, as well as other like persons who are very upset about ASH's role in posing clear threat to public safety well outside of the walls and fence lines of ASH.

All of this stated, I am yet again horrified by the substandard health care and related practices at ASH and in ADHS, this after learning that in spite of these developments, Cory Nelson is still effectively acting as Arizona's most authoritative behavioral health care official. This is a man who spent the majority of his pre-ASH professional history working in South Dakota's corrections department (a prison warden in effect, and as matter of clarification, ASH is not a prison), and who was implicated as being involved in a very controversial fiscal process that occurred in blatant disregard for the wishes of South Dakota's citizens (specifically, Nelson got an under-the-table salary raise of at least $10,000), all of which was well documented in Rapid City, SD, news organizations, circa 2009-2010. By continuing to grant Nelson this authority, Will Humble is vividly exhibiting the graphic disconnect between his specific responsibilities and the wishes and concerns of Arizona's citizens at this time; this in terms of the general public, current and former ASH staff, current and former ASH patients and patient's families, and so on. 

IN CLOSING: It's late, and I am facing a very busy schedule as of tomorrow morning. But I will say this before I wrap up. At the beginning of this article, I made the statement that Cory Nelson is currently "under investigation". This is not something that he would agree with, and nor would people like Will Humble, or anyone else currently involved with the ongoing substandard health care and practices at The Arizona State Hospital. But we know better, and I attest that the basic ineptitude of these individuals is increasingly contributing to their own pending downfall. 

I will follow up on this basic situation later on this week. But in the meantime, I can only say that there is no better time for you, oh reader(s), to proactively express your discontent and related dissent specific to this matter as it stands at this time. Please see my "Resources Ideas" article and determine the most comfortable manner for you to become involved in defending the rights and related care needs of Arizona's most seriously mentally ill and disabled citizens. I strongly suggest drafting short and to the point letters to Will Humble at the downtown Phoenix office ADHS. Make copies of these letters and forward them to the news desks of the Arizona Republic newspaper, Ch 15, and Ch 12; or feel free to do so via electronic communication, wherein documenting your concerns is that much easier.

paoloreed@gmail.com

Cory Nelson's Ongoing Lies: Herein, a good hard look at the state of Arizona's statutory provision(s) underlying voluntary versus involuntary status in the context of hospitalized mental patients, with specific respect for ASH' CEO's untruthfulness in relation to the letter of law specific to the topic.  

FOR THE ENTIRETY OF HIS TIME AS HEAD HONCHO AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, CORY NELSON HAS WILLFULLY ENGAGED IN DECEIVING HIS OWN STAFF, ASH PATIENTS, AND THE GREATER PUBLIC AS A MEANS TO PRESERVE THE SUBSTANDARD HEALTH CARE PRACTICES THERE. KEEP IN MIND, THIS IS A MAN WHO LEFT HIS PAST POSITION (PRE-ASH) DUE TO CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES SPECIFIC TO FISCAL CORRUPTION IN THE SOUTH DAKOTA BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, WHICH HE HAD BEEN EXPOSED TO BEING CENTRALLY INVOLVED IN, CIRCA 2009-2010. IN OTHER WORDS: WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU ARE FORMALLY ACCUSED OF MALFEASANT CONDUCT AS A STATE EMPLOYEE IN SOUTH DAKOTA? WELL, YOU GO TO ARIZONA, OF COURSE, AND TAKE A HIGH PAYING JOB WORKNG FOR WILL HUMBLE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, WHERE YOUR DISHONESTY WILL BE VALUED FOR EXACTLY WHAT IT IS! 

The following information is a repost of an article I drafted and published last October. It has to do with one of the most tragic events directly caused by the deceitful character of The Arizona State Hospital's administrative employees, including Dr. Steven Dingle, who was the hospital's Chief Medical Officer at the time that this event initially transpired, as well as ASH's current supervisor, Cory Nelson, who followed up on the original criminality by willfully lying about factual details underlying this particular cycle of violence, which began months before he even started working at ASH. It is also about safety, specific to both the patients at ASH as well as the general public. In recent months we have seen an increasing amount of hard data relating to damage that Nelson has thus far caused as ASH's executive administrator, and there is perhaps no one factor on the minds of the public today than Nelson's willingness to reduce the security staff at ASH by as much as 45-60% during the winter of 2011-2012; relating to this, in the last year there have been at least five patient escapes, and various members of ASH's front line staff have expressed serious concern over how that specific change has endangered their very lives, this given that there are no security immediately available to respond whenever episodes of violence arise. In several prime time television news reports aired on Phoenix area stations in recent months, Nelson has personally rejected the notion that these reductions in security might pose danger to staff, as well as in the context of the dramatic increase of patient escapes since he took over the helm at ASH in August, 2011. I am reposting this article today in order to pose the following question: 

       IF THE FOLLOWING MAY, 2011, ESCAPE OCCURRED AT A TIME WHEN THERE WERE 45-60% MORE SECURITY STAFF ON HAND AT ASH, WHERE IS THE LOGIC IN CLAIMING THAT THE RADICAL REDUCTIONS IN SECURITY AT ASH POSES NO POTENTIAL IN TERMS OF DECREASES IN SAFETY AT ASH, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ESCAPES, PATIENT ON STAFF VIOLENCE, STAFF ON PATIENT VIOLENCE, AND PATIENT ON PATIENT VIOLENCE? 

RE: ARS Title 36- 531:The Public Health and Safety; possible disposition; release. This statute dictates the required conduct of any Arizona hospital in specific relation to any voluntary mental health patient's request or action relative to discharge. ASH, meanwhile, is a public mental hospital/entity, funded by the citizens of Arizona, and subject to state (and federal) law specific to the public trust and safety. No hospital has the authority to deviate from the requirements of this statute; as per strictly regulated licensure, all hospitals are required to abide by the full language of this statute. Any deviation by an administrative state employee from these requirements is prosecutable under civil and criminal law. Bottom line. 

     I am getting sick and tired of hearing the supervisor of the Arizona State Hospital (ASH), Cory "meathead" Nelson, grossly misinterpret and/or mischaracterize very the clear letter of law that readily afforded in Arizona Revised Statutes- 36 Public Health and Safety- Section 531; possible disposition; release, wherein, and as per express language therein, no hospitalized mental health patient has the "right" or "privilege" to simply "walk away" from any hospital in Arizona until they have been granted that option via a very specific and strictly required process, including the fundamental application of medical clearance that may only be granted following a formal mental evaluation. It does not matter whatsoever if the given patient is there under the status of involuntary or not, for if the hospital's chief medical officer (Dr. Steven Dingle), as per the formal opinion of the patient's primary treating physician (Dr. Steven Morris), has reason to believe that the patient poses a danger to himself or to others, as a baseline matter of concern in this context, than the director is bound by law to initiate a petition for continued involuntary inpatient treatment. This applies across the board in each and every form of hospital operating in the state of Arizona, including ASH, and equally applies in varied language in every state in the country today. While it is within any voluntary mental patient's right to request discharge, a health care facility must not grant any such discharge until it has been formally determined that the patient is stable enough (safe) for said discharge, a determination that must be issued by both the treating physician's medical opinion, and an associated confirmation by the facility's chief medical officer. If, in evaluating a voluntary mental patient's state of mind, the facility determines the patient to be a danger to his/her self, or to others, than the facility can- and in fact must, under the applicable statute(s)- retain the the patient for up to 72 hours (under a status of involuntary), during which time the director is afforded the opportunity to seek a judge's authority (court order) to extend the given patients' treatment under the status of involuntary for periods up to 180 days, as applicable. 

     I have included the entire Arizona revised statue applicable to this subject at the end of this article. But at the moment, I want to draw your attention to the primary section(s) (A., B., C.) of the statute, as shown below:

            ARS 36-531. Evaluation; possible dispositions; release

A. A person being evaluated on an inpatient basis in an evaluation agency shall be released if, in the opinion of the medical director of the agency, further evaluation is not appropriate unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis. 

B. If it is determined upon an evaluation of the patient's condition that he is, as a result of a mental disorder, a danger to self or to others, is persistently or acutely disabled or is gravely disabled, the medical director in charge of the agency which provided the evaluation shall, unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis, prepare, sign and file a petition for court-ordered treatment unless the county attorney performs the functions of preparing, signing or filing the petition as provided in subsection C of this section.

C.The agency may contact the county attorney to obtain his assistance in preparing the petition for court-ordered treatment, and the agency may request the advice and judgment of the county attorney in reaching a decision as to whether court-ordered treatment is justified.

(END OF DOCUMENT EXCERPT- FOR COMPLETE DOCUMENT, GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE)

    In late May, 2011, a patient (Jesus Rincon Murietta) who was undergoing treatment at The Arizona State Hospital, in Phoenix, AZ, on a voluntary basis, managed to unlawfully steal an ASH staff members electronic pass card and identification, which he then used to unlawfully pass through several electronically secured doors; after gaining access to the exterior area of the main ASH facility (the main parking lot), Murietta evaded ASH security staff who were attempting to apprehend him, including by throwing several large stones at them, placing them in enough jeopardy for their safety that they terminated the attempt to catch Murietta. In early June, 2011, ASH administrators refused to release any information whatsoever about the escape to at least one journalist (JJ Hensely, The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, AZ), and in fact, went so far as to patently deny that their had been any escapes within the last 6 months, or longer. Consequently, approximately 90 days later, in late August 2011, Murietta beat and then cut the throat of a young woman named April Mott, killing her. Once again, the same journalist who attempted to acquire information about Murietta's late May escape, attempted to gain information specific to ASH's refusals to openly communicate with him specific to the underlying sequence of events by which April Mott's death occurred; at that time, ASH supervisor Cory Nelson stated that ASH had no obligation to report Murietta's escape due to the fact that, at the time of his escape, Murietta was being provided treatment at ASH on a voluntary basis.

   "State hospital CEO Cory Nelson, who started Aug. 1, said he could not talk specifically about the Murrieta case. But in general, Nelson said, the hospital's obligation to report patients who leave against the advice of doctors extends only to those who are involuntarily committed.

  'If they (voluntary patients) choose to leave their treatment environment, that would be their choice," Nelson said. "If someone leaves the facility and they don't really have another attachment to another person . . . we contact law enforcement and let them know that the individual has left the 
hospital.' " (excerpt, Hensley, 9/28/11)

     I contend that Nelson knowingly and willfully misrepresented the provisions underlying applicable law in this matter as a strategical pretense for excusing the Hospital's overall unlawful conduct specific to concealing the fact that Mureitta had escaped ASH (and was at large in the greater Phoenix metro area), deceitful misconduct that ultimately led to the brutal slaying of April Mott, in late August, 2011. (see: "Victim's Family Questions Why Man Was Free" JJ Hensley, AZ Republic Sept. 29, 2011).  

     Now, let's take another look at Arizona law (shown above) specific to a mental health care's facilities obligations to the public. 

     Piece by piece: (A and B): This is an excerpt from the bright line body of law that applies to all aspects of any Arizona hospital's responsibilities with respect  to discharging mentally disabled client-patients on the basis of the patient's request to be discharged. This is how it goes. Period:

36-531. Evaluation; possible dispositions; release

A) A person being evaluated on an inpatient basis in an evaluation agency shall be released if, in the opinion of the medical director of the agency, further evaluation is not appropriate…..

     It is important to note herein, that only after the "opinion of the medical director of the agency" (the definition(s) of "agency" in this parlance includes hospital facilities, while "director applies most significantly to the chief medical officer, or alternatively, the facility director ) has been been determined in the context of any given voluntary patients' state of mind at that time (as per the required mental evaluation), "shall" the patient be released. (It is critical to note that at the time of Murietta's May 2011 escape, there was no dutifully hired supervisor/director in place at ASH, this following the April 2011 resignation of CEO John Cooper). This belies the incontrovertible (factual)reality that no patient, whether designated as voluntary or involuntary, may be discharged from any hospital facility unless this specific condition has been met. To do poses clear danger to both the patient and the public, and flies in the face of well established mental heath care and policy.  

B) If it is determined upon an evaluation of the patient's condition that he is, as a result of a mental disorder, a danger to self or to others, is persistently or acutely disabled or is gravely disabled, the medical director in charge of the agency which provided the evaluation shall, unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis, prepare, sign and file a petition for court-ordered treatment…..

     Herein, we see that any patient exhibiting the characteristics associated with posing "a danger to self or others…. (or who) is persistently or acutely disabled or is gravely disabled"  is not to be released/discharged, on the basis of fact defining that the given patient is not "safe", "stable", and/or not posing "a danger to self or others" (as per the strict language of this statute). It does not matter one iota if the patient is voluntary, and ASH director Cory Nelson has no excuse whatsoever for not understanding this fundamental fact. The fact being, that anytime an individual known to be mentally ill requests  discharge from a psychiatric ward, there is a very specific process to be followed. Bottom line. The significance of this bright line standard of law and policy is critical in terms of public safety specific to both the patient, as well the greater public, in general. As such, this is precisely the nature of what we the people reasonably expect from any state employee grated the privilege of caring for Arizona''s seriously mentally ill and disabled citizens, and people like Dr. Steven Dingle and Cory Nelson are among our state's highest paid employees. This is ridiculous, unacceptable, and an aberration in terms of contemporary medical standards. ASH: It really is that bad.  

     In a very recent Question and Answers session with a reporter from Phoenix's main local newspaper, The Arizona Republic (Mary Reinhart, published on September 23, 2012; see Q&A: Arizona State Hospital chief talks security CEO discusses new measures, trainings that were spurred by 2 escapes in 2011 by Mary K. Reinhart - Sept. 22, 2012 08:43 PM The Republic | azcentral.com) Cory "crazycorycorner" Nelson again misrepresented the applicable law specific to the covered up May, 2011, escape of Jesus Rincon Murietta, by characterizing the escape as a legitimate voluntary discharge. 

"We have individuals who are in the facility, very rare but we have them, who are there on a voluntary basis and they can walk out on a voluntary basis. That is one of the privileges that you have when you're voluntarily accessing services. We can't impinge on their civil rights."

     (Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/20120921arizona-state-hospital-chief-security.html#ixzz28ACnGkzH)

                                                             (END of article excerpt)

     There it is again, in that first sentence: "We have individuals (patients)…. who are there (at ASH) on a voluntary basis and they can walk out on voluntary basis…. " Simply stated, Nelson's statement is 100% in contradiction to the language and intent of applicable law and policy; and as such, I fully believe that every time he has made statements to this effect, he has willfully and knowingly engaged in something disturbingly consistent with pathological lying, in graphic defiance of the public trust. It is likewise, as equally disturbing that he somehow interprets a seriously mentally ill persons' potential ability (no matter how inaccurate the possibility of that potential is, in fact) to leave the safety and care provided in a level one mental health facility regardless of their actual state of mind (and directly related quality of health) as a "privilege." It is as though the "chief" of Arizona's sole long term public mental health facility views any patients actual disability as a mere byproduct of their presence in ASH, rather than being the primary reason that they are there, in fact. This is as graphic a disconnect from the true purpose and role of ASH as public health care facility as one might find in this day in age. Absolute ineptitude and utter breach of the public trust. In contemporary terms and with direst reference to his status as an executive level state employee, I thus find it shoocking to the conscience to witness a man like Cory Nelson discussing "civil rights."

      Herein, the man entrusted with overseeing the entire Arizona State Hospital, where the Arizona's most seriously mentally disabled patients expect and deserve nothing short of competent performance by the one's employed to provide them with such, states in no uncertain terms that any voluntary patient, can leave ASH (at any time, in any fashion) as matter of "privilege"; including someone like Jesus Rincon Murietta, according to Nelson's ill-intended logic, who forced his way out of ASH by ripping the electronic pass card off of an ASH staff's neck and proceeding thereafter to run away and escape from pursuing security guards by throwing rocks at them, and then went on to kill April Mott.

     I will just say it again. The truth of the matter is that- at a minimum- any voluntary patient desiring to discharge from ASH for any reason must formally request the discharge via a very specific process, involving his or her entire inpatient treatment and discharge planning team (ITDP); as such, all members of the ITDP team are required to provide well founded medical input specific to their knowledge of the given patients' general heath and state of mind at that time. In a mental health facility such as ASH, this process requires a full mental evaluation to be administered by a licensed mental health professional (the primary treating physician, in this case, ASH's Dr. Steven Morris). Short of this required process of evaluation, whereby no patient, rather voluntary or not, is to be released from the given hospital facility in question until these fundamental concerns are addressed, there is (was) no excuse whatsoever to not fully divulge the fact that someone like Jesus Murietta escaped ASH. And yet in spite this fact and the underlying implications (state and federal law and policy), in early June, 2011, ASH's administrators and associated senior clinicians did willfully deny the escape of any patients, this in response to direct inquiries specific to the issue, (posed by JJ Hensley of the AZ Republic); and less then 90 full days later, Cory Nelson knowingly engaged in misrepresenting the provisions specific to a voluntary patient, such as Murietta, obviously in order to compromise the factual information due to the citizens of Arizona, including April Mott's family, and any other concerned citizens (such as myself). 

     This entire debacle is about a cycle of violence that can be directly attributed to the role of The Arizona State Hospital. It is that simple, it is that straight forward, and there is simply no other way to look at it, in my humble opinion.  ASH's administrative staff, including senior counsel (Joel Rudd), and anyone else involved in major decisions in relation to the Hospital's day to day operation(s), misconstrued the underlying truth to Jesus Murietta's escape, and they knew it. 

     And as shown in the following passage from a letter written to me by Cory "crazycorycorner" Nelson in late September, 2011, the administrative staff at ASH misinterpret/mischaracterize the specific meaning and intent of this body of Arizona law as matter of "standard" practice:

 "Patrick I would encourage you to work with your treatment team to address all aspects of your treatment plan while you are still a resident at the hospital. Since your legal status at the hospital is voluntary you may certainly request discharge from your treatment team if you believe that the treatment that you are receiving is ineffective, unnecessary or otherwise not meeting your needs." (ADHS/ASH letter, Cory Nelson to ------- (PJ Reed), September 30, 2011)   

     As I have described in previous articles (see: "Why Do we Care?" September 26, 2012), Nelson made this statement to me in direct response to my reports to him about gross violations of law and policy in relation to patient abuse and associated administrative misconduct. As such, rather than offering me a forthright response to my well founded and good faith reports in this matter, the supervisor of Arizona's only long term public mental health facility encouraged me to consider leaving ASH at that time, with no concern or respect whatsoever for my actual state of mind at the time, and despite the fact that I was neither stable/safe and ready for reentry into the community. This is on point with Nelson's graphic untruthfulness in relation to the Jesus Murietta affair. And as pointed out in the material provided above, if I had requested discharge during the period of time that Nelson wrote this letter to me (late summer, early fall, 2011), I would have then been the subject of the required mental health evaluation, and presuming that during the course of that evaluation I was open, honest and forthcoming about my thoughts about suicide and other related elements of my specific diagnosis (as I always have been during the entirety of my experiences since May, 2010, and the earliest stages of my time in the Arizona behavioral health care system), my ASH ITDP team would not have even been allowed, as per the letter of the law, to grant me safe discharge, because the fact is, my state of mind in late summer, 2011, was such that I was definitely still willing to predict suicidal intent and action were I not continually involved in ongoing safe treatment in ASH or some other like facility (of course, ASH is the only long term mental health facility in the state of Arizona, so I would have had no option(s) beyond continuing my treatment there at ASH). Thus and therein, if I were not willing to continue my treatment at ASH on a voluntary basis at that time, my clinicians and the senior conical staff ASH (as stated in the statute, the medical director) would have been required by law to initiate a petition to have my involuntary status reinstated for a period of time not to exceed 180 days. This basic fact proves my contention that Cory "meathead" Nelson and Joel "the mortician" Rudd willfully manipulate the provisions underlying law specific to public safety in the context of both the mental health patients needs as well as that of the greater public, in general. 

     Likewise, in the case of Jesus Rincon Murietta, who was indeed receiving his treatment at ASH on a voluntary basis at the time of his late May, 2011, escape, the Hospital could have only lawfully granted him moderately immediate discharge following his having requested such, and then having been subject to the subsequent process of medical clearance only afforded via the requirement of a full mental health evaluation (as laid out in very clear and simple terms in this statute); but given the fact that he never in fact requested discharge from ASH, and that in the 4 weeks prior to that late May, 2011, escape, Murietta had been involved in several unprovoked physical attacks on several persons at ASH (including staff and at at least one female patient), Murietta's primary attending doctor ASH, Dr. Morris, and the rest of Murietta's ITDP team, as well as ASH's medical director at the time, Dr. Steven Dingle, would have been required to meet the specific requirements of this statute, which rule out the release/discharge of patients exhibiting characteristics associated with posing "a danger to self or others" (from subsection B of the statute, shown above). Thus and herein, Murietta's departure from ASH was anything but a legitimate voluntary discharge, and for  Cory "meathead"- Nelson or anybody else to characterize Murietta's as a legitimate discharge falls nothing short of willful and criminal alteration(s) of the truth.  ASH's cover up of the truth at the time Murietta escaped directly led to the horrifically brutal slaying of an innocent woman, who would have had nothing whatsoever to do with ASH, Jesus Murietta, and so on, had the administrative staff at ASH met their clearly established obligations in this context. Systematic, obviously purposeful intent to engage in a criminal action specific to covering up a very serous pattern of unlawful actions in this specific matter. Bottom line. 

     Ding, Mother Fuckers! Try to lie your way out of this one.

In Closing: NOTE: As per the wisdom of ADHS Director Will Humble, there has been a bit of shuffle in agency itself due to staff shortages, and Cory "meathead" Nelson is currently the acting Deputy Director of ADHS sub-agency, Behavioral Health Services. As stated, these people continue to reap the full benefits afforded them through their entrusted positions at the head of Arizona's public heath care system, while the impacts of their ineptitude simultaneously continues to harmfully impact Arizona's collective citizens; and while my anger, as expressed above (please forgive my language), still flows directly from my heartfelt concern relating to the bare boned fact that April Mott did not deserve to be effected by the substandard practices of ASH's administrative staff. Nobody deserves that, including the patients and ASH today. But given these facts, the additional fact cannot be ignored, that Nelson, The Chief Executive Officer at The Arizona State Hospital and current Deputy Director of ADHS/BGHS is a bald faced liar through and through. Documented statements that he has made specific to the issue of safe discharges from ASH, including in the case of this most recent Questions and Answers article from the Arizona Republic, clearly illustrate his unbridled willingness to violate his required obligations to the citizens of Arizona simple as a matter of trying to avoid direct accountability in terms of the substandard mental-medical health care and practices at ASH. In doing this, Nelson breaches his contract with the citizens of Arizona in every conceivable sense. This is unacceptable. And yet the highest ranking officials in the Arizona Department of Heath Services, including ADHS director, Will Humble, refuse to acknowledge the significance of these matters, which thus allows for the gross violations of patient rights at ASH to continue, including but not limited to physical, verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse. In no uncertain terms, the willful misconduct of ASH's administrative staff in the context that I have laid out in today's article also amounts to explicit abuse of patient's rights, and I find it to be as deplorable an state of corrupt hospital management as I can imagine. Bottom line. Do not let yourselves be fooled by Cory "meathead" Nelson's clumsy avoidance of the reality(s) that underlie this specific body of concern; he truly is not very bright, but I find it hard to believe that his ineptude extends to an inability to even recognize how unlawful his conduct is, at times. 

IN CLOSING: AS NOTED ABOVE, SINCE THE DEATH OF APRIL MOTT AND THE CRIMINAL SENTENCING OF JESUS RINCON MURIETTA, DR. STEVEN DINGLE HAS BEEN PROMOTED WITHIN THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, WHILE CORY NELSON HAS ALTERNATED BETWEEN THE SUPERVISORY POSITION HE WAS ORIGINALLY HIRED TO FILL AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, AND A TEMPORARY POSITION AS ACTING DIRECTOR IN THE AZ BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES. BOTH OF THESE DEVELOPMENTS WERE IMPLEMENTED UNDER THE DIRECT AUTHORITY OF WILL HUMBLE. IN THE PUBLIC MILLEU, MEANWHILE,  WE AS A NATION HAVE EXPERIENCED MASS SHOOTINGS AND OTHER TRAGEDIES SPECIFIC TO THE PRESENCE OF UNTREATED MENTALLY ILL PERSONS IN OUR SOCIETY, BUT THE RAT BASTARDS AT ASH AND IN ADHS ARE PLUGGING ALONG WITH NO CONSEQUENCES WHATSOEVER IN TERMS OF THEIR WRONGDOING.

THIS- ALL OF THIS- IS STANDARD PRACTICE IN ARIZONA'S PUBLIC BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. IT REALLY IS THAT BAD.

Please do what you can to defend the rights an support the critical need for serious reform at ASH and within the offices of the Arizona Department of Health/Behavioral Health Services, including the Office of Grievances and Appeals, as well. Patient abuse is inhumane and cruel. Let's end the abuse of Arizona's most seriously mentally disabled patients today. 

    

paoloreed@gmail.com

Arizona Revised Statutes - Title 36 Public Health and Safety - Section 36-531 Evaluation; possible dispositions; release3 6-531. Evaluation; possible dispositions; release.                                                                                                           

A. A person being evaluated on an inpatient basis in an evaluation agency shall be released if, in the opinion of the medical director of the agency, further evaluation is not appropriate unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis.                                 B. If it is determined upon an evaluation of the patient's condition that he is, as a result of a mental disorder, a danger to self or to others, is persistently or acutely disabled or is gravely disabled, the medical director in charge of the agency which provided the evaluation shall, unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis, prepare, sign and file a petition for court-ordered treatment unless the county attorney performs the functions of preparing, signing or filing the petition as provided in subsection C of this section.                                                                                         C. The agency may contact the county attorney to obtain his assistance in preparing the petition for court-ordered treatment, and the agency may request the advice and judgment of the county attorney in reaching a decision as to whether court-ordered treatment is justified. D. A person being evaluated on an inpatient basis in an evaluation agency shall be released within seventy-two hours, excluding weekends and holidays, from the time that he is hospitalized pursuant to a court order for evaluation, unless the person makes application for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis or unless a petition for court-ordered treatment has been filed pursuant to subsection B of this section. E. The department of health services may conduct jointly with a school district, directly or indirectly, an educational evaluation pursuant to sections 15-765 and 15-766 for nonadjudicated youth. The evaluation information may be shared by and among authorized personnel employed by the department of health services and the department of education, or authorized personnel from the local education agency, for purposes of ensuring the provision of special education and related services as required by the individuals with disabilities education act (20 United States Code sections 1400 through 1415).

Staff Shortages: Wherein the ongoing crisis at The Arizona State Hospital specific to shortages in behavioral health technician staff has grossly unjust impacts on the ASH patient community. As always.

Hi PJ

Here is the latest from -----… Due to the lack of staffing patients are being confined to day rooms for crowd control….  They are also shutting down mall privileges because of lack of staff.  They are telling the patients that it is only going to get worse. (April 09, 2013) 

NUTSHELL: Generally speaking, the patients at The Arizona State Hospital are afforded a range of privileges designed to optimize their overall state of mental and physical health and well-being.  These privileges include access to various recreational and therapeutic actives and related in-hospital resources, the bulk of which are provided at different locations throughout the hospital. Such resources include a gymnasium, library, exercise room, art therapy room(s), and so on; while on the Civil side of the hospital (where approximately half of the ASH patients reside), there is an open area referred to as "The Patient Mall", which is comprised of a roughly 1/4 mile long piece of concrete lined on each side by seating areas and other like amenities intended to provide patients with a reasonably comfortably environment not confined within the walls of specific treatment units. These various privileges and related amenities are central to extensive funding that the citizens of Arizona have provided on behalf of ASH's patients over the past 15-20 years, and as illustrated in the 2004 newspaper article that I posted two days ago (see "Teaser", Mon. 04/08/13), even the federal government has emphasized the importance of granting ASH patients clear opportunity(s) to participate in therapeutic and recreational opportunities away from the limited confines of unit "day rooms", where they have nothing more to do than watch t.v. or sleep in filthy overstuffed chairs that are thoroughly wiped down about once every decade while the more rambunctious individuals (staff included) carry on with nerve wracking episodic outbursts and other like mania.     

With respect for the revelations exposed in 1999-2000 by a Medicaid investigation at ASH, these are only a few of the specific details provided at that time:

Inspectors with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reviewed 12 patient cases during a May visit to the State Hospital, at 24th and Van Buren streets. They found a hospital where patients were plunked in front of televisions or allowed to wander instead of being engaged in treatment.

The review found:

Patients have cookie-cutter, incomplete or ineffective treatment plans. One patient who had been at the hospital four months told them he couldn’t remember any treatment other than “going to the library once,” “movies and popcorn” and “medicine.”

Update to the present: So long as the highest paid state employees in the Arizona Department of Health Services fail to do the right thing by directly addressing the graphic wrongdoing at ASH, things there are never going to change. As illustrated in recent news reports (see my blog article: "RE: Security Cutbacks At The Arizona State Hospital" March 12, 2013), recent major changes to the basic management of The Arizona State Hospital have led to shockingly unreasonable staff shortages and related safety concerns, including but not limited to a number of patient escapes. These changes were implemented by ASH's current supervisor, Cory "crazycorycorner" Nelson, in order to establish what he and his superiors in the Arizona Department of Health Services (namely ADHS director Will Humble) have characterized as a "CULTURE OF CARE," and central to those changes, Nelson has laid off dozens of experienced ASH staff, including a thigh number of security staff. He has done while simultaneously ignoring increasing staff concerns that arose due to shocking incidents of violence that lest more than one staff person gravely injured, and in clear contradiction to promises that he made to staff during in the hiring process in summer, 2011. Now, over the past 12 weeks, there have been several highly publicized news reports that came about in response to reports generated by ASH staff specific to safety, and subsequent investigations of those reports exposed the issue of patient escapes; this, in turn, led to three specific interviews with Cory Nelson in which he patently denied the fact that these changes have had anything but positive results. In one case, for example, he flatly rejected the notion that reduced security staff contributed to a series of patient escapes (no less than 5 in 2012) on the 10 p.m. nightly news, which in the eyes of at least some viewers, greatly brought Nelson's character and capabilities as the man most responsible for managing ASH into question.  

Consistent with these other reports, I am now receiving information about the direct impacts that these staff shortages are having on the patients at ASH. Specifically, one such recent report reads like this:

Hi PJ

Here is the latest from -----… Due to the lack of staffing patients are being confined to day rooms for crowd control….  They are also shutting down mall privileges because of lack of staff.  They are telling the patients that it is only going to get worse. 

As usual, in this specific case, we are again seeing how the ineptitude of ASH's administrators is landing squarely on the heads of the Hospital's seriously mentally ill and disabled client-patients. Cory Nelson and Will Humble have absolute direct responsibility with respect for these matters at this time, along with various other executive staff at both ASH and in ADHS/Behavioral Health Services. But it is also critical to note that the primary care providers at ASH are also involved in these issues, for they are the ones most directly responsible for each and every ASH patients' welfare, and this direct responsibility flows straight to ASH's chief medical officer, Dr. Laxman P. Patel. All of these individuals are currently complicit in allowing for the patients at ASH to be denied the general resources available at ASH, and this is wrong. Not unusual, mind you, just wrong, wrong, wrong, and 100% consistent with the standard practices at ASH, as illustrated to date by this blog, and as increasingly reflected by prime time news reporting.  

I am not going to send to much time on this today. But you can be sure that there are other developments from my end in the works, even as I write. The administrators and senior clinicians at The Arizona State Hospital are willfully engaging in substandard medical-mental health care and practice, and they are getting away with! For now. For there are a number of people today looking directly at these matters, and I am increasingly confident that it is only a matter of time before these rat bastards are held accountable to the full extent of applicable state and federal law.   

PLEASE SEE: RESOURCES IDEAS: MARCH 13, 2013 I recently posted a new listing of resources and contact information specific to the affairs of The Arizona State Hospital, and I strongly encourage anybody of like mind to do whatever you feel comfortable with in terms of defending the dignity and rights of the patient community at ASH. The administrators and clinicians at ASH are maintaining that operation at a dismally substandard level of medical care and practice, and they are getting away with lock-stock-and barrel. Patient abuse is highly illegal and when it comes the care needs of the highly vulnerable, seriously mentally disabled patients at ASH, it is sickening to the core. Let's work together and see that this matter is resolved today. I welcome any and all contacts- INCLUDING ASH STAFF, AND I ASSURE YOU THAT YOUR IDENTITY WILL NOT BE PUT AT RISK- and want to extend my sincere thanks to those of you who I have come to know thus far through my writings, and I really appreciate your willingness to consider my concerns in this context.     

paoloreed@gmail.com   
  

TEASER: LAXMAN PATEL IS NOW THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL.
Wherein, a quick glance at a Phoenix newspaper article from 2004 illustrates the undeniable fact that the substandard conditions and related unlawful clinical practices currently in effect at The Arizona State Hospital are anything but unusual. The fact is, ASH and it's associate senior clinicians, including current Chief Medical Officer Laxman P. Patel, have a clear history of graphic misconduct that cuts to the quick in terms of established human rights in this context, but for some reason, the situation has effectively remained unchanged, and the clinicians who were centrally involved in exposed wrongdoing at ASH are still up to their evil ways. As follows.

Friday, August 6th, 2004

New state hospital fails to win feds' approval.
The Arizona Republic

Surprise review at facility for the mentally ill finds patients handcuffed, kept in seclusion for hours.   (full article further below)

General THE NEED TO MAINTAIN A VIGILANT STANCE SPECIFIC TO THE SUBSTANDARD MENTAL-MEDICAL HEALTH CARE AND PRACTICES AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL IS VERY REAL, AND THIS INCLUDES TAKING AN OCCASIONAL LOOK BACKWARDS IN ORDER TO GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SITUATION. THE FACT IS, ASH HAS AND POTENTIALLY WILL CONTINUE TO OPERATE WELL OUTSIDE OF ESTABLISHED HEALTH CARE STANDARDS IF UNPARALLELED ACTION DOES NOT OCCUR WITH THE SPECIFIC INTENT OF ESTABLISHING PERMANENT OVERSIGHT AND UNAVOIDABLE ACCOUNTABILITY. IN THE RECENT PAST, THE ADMINISTRATORS AND SENIOR CLINICIANS AT ASH HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE IN RADICAL VIOLATION OF STATE AND FEDERAL LAW, WITH FAIRLY RIGOROUS RESULTS IN TERMS OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION. BUT IN SPITE OF THE SEVERITY OF GRAPHICALLY INHUMANE ISSUES REVEALED IN THE RECENT PAST, INCLUDING HIGHLY ABUSIVE PHYSICAL PRACTICES AND RELATED CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE TO THE Nth DEGREE, THE RECORD INDICATES NO FORMAL CONSEQUENCES IN TERMS OF LEGAL ACTION DIRECTLY TAKEN AGAINST THE ONES MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR IT ALL. THE SENIOR CLINICIANS, THAT IS, WHO ARE REQUIRED TO DILIGENTLY MAINTAIN FULL AWARENESS OF ALL/ANY DETAILS SPECIFIC TO PATIENT CARE AT ASH. THUS, THE RECORD AS IT STANDS TODAY ALSO SHOWS IT IS SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH FOR US TO RELY ON OCCASIONAL ACTS OF ARGUABLY INEFFECTIVE DISCIPLINE, AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE FOLLOWING 2004 ARTICLE, BECAUSE THE REAL PROBLEMS RESIDES IN THE BLACKHEARTED CHARACTER(S) OF INDIVIDUALS LIKE LAXMAN P. PATEL, WHO IS NOW THE TOP DOG AT ASH, A FACT THAT SHOCKS THE CONSCIENCE OF ANYONE REASONABLY FAMILIAR WITH THE ONGOING CRISIS AT ASH. SO LONG AS THE STATE OF ARIZONA IS UNWILLING TO REMOVE SUCH INDIVIDUALS FROM THE PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM THAT WE THE CITIZENS FUND WITH OUR TAXES, WE THE PEOPLE NEED TO EXERCISE OUR RIGHT TO TAKE ACTION. NOW.

Laxman P. Patel was already high in the food chain in terms of the clinical hierarchy at The Arizona State Hospital by the turn of the century; he had worked at ASH, in fact, for some 20 odd years by that time. Therein, following an intensive 2000-2004 investigation that was conducted by inspectors from the federal Medicare program, a host of highly inhumane conditions and related practices at ASH were clearly revealed, which consequently led to what I can only describe, today, as a virtual slap on the wrist. Patel was there before these matters were revealed, Patel was there during the period of "discipline" specific to them, and Patel remained there- high on the food chain at ASH- after it all settled down; and today, as we know, Patel is the very doctor with the highest authority at ASH. This is beyond unacceptable. It is horrific, and seemingly unimaginable in these times, and yet here it is, right in front of us. Because one can safely presume beyond all doubt that Patel was very, very aware of the details specific to those revelations at that time, and as such, was been in a profoundly great position in his own right to step forward and do the right thing, without needing to be redirected and brought into alignment with the established health care standards. Patel has, in fact, been in that position for three decades. Patel is a licensed physician currently practicing medicine in the United States of America, and as such, Patel is bound by professional codes of conduct that demand him to diligently take action in defense of the care needs and related rights of his patients, codes that flow outward from the Hippocratic Oath itself. Patel had and has no excuse. 

    But did he? Did Dr. Laxman P. Patel diligently take action to serve his patients to the fullest of his given ability as a doctor? No. He did not. And what reason is there for anyone to presume that this man's character is such that he will act any differently today? None. He and his associates were willfully turning blind eye to the conditions that were exposed between 2000-2004, and once those revelations were established, Patel and company budged only so far as they needed to in order comply with directives that were derived of commonly recognized terms of decency. In other words, short of formal baby sitting, the doctors at ASH are incapable of recognizing such commonly recognized terms decency. They are incompetent, unethical, and due the full accountability that any other American is subject to in terms of justice.

  New state hospital fails to win feds' approval.

Friday, August 6th, 2004

The Arizona Republic

Surprise review at facility for the mentally ill finds patients handcuffed, kept in seclusion for hours.

The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX – The new Arizona State Hospital faces federal penalties if it doesn’t correct problems found during a surprise review that painted a grim picture of some patients not getting psychiatric care, being handcuffed inappropriately and being secluded for hours unnecessarily.

Federal officials have already rejected one state proposal for improvements at the hospital, which treats the state’s most seriously mentally ill. Another should be filed today. If the second plan is not approved, the hospital could lose its Medicare certification and as much as $2.7 million in federal payments. Federal officials could also pull $28 million in funding for Arizona hospitals that serve a large number of poor patients.

The findings come six years after a disastrous federal review that revealed dirty and dangerous conditions for patients. That hospital was decertified for two years. Two years ago the state opened the new $80 million hospital for the very patients that now concern inspectors. State officials had said the new facility was key to improving care. Inspectors with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reviewed 12 patient cases during a May visit to the State Hospital, at 24th and Van Buren streets. They found a hospital where patients were plunked in front of televisions or allowed to wander instead of being engaged in treatment.

The review found:

• Patients have cookie-cutter, incomplete or ineffective treatment plans. One patient who had been at the hospital four months told them he couldn’t remember any treatment other than “going to the library once,” “movies and popcorn” and “medicine.” A nurse told investigators he couldn’t leave his unit to attend activities because of his assaultive behavior and instead gets one-on-one time with staff and extra medications when needed.

• Patients are handcuffed at the hospital, which violates federal standards. Top hospital officials told inspectors that nurses ordered security staff to use handcuffs during emergencies.

• Patients are put into seclusion for hours. A female patient was secluded at 3:35 a.m. She was supposed to be released “when calm and cooperative,” and by 5 a.m. she was “crying, apologizing for wrongdoings.” Follow-up checks on her showed no reason for her to remain in isolation, but the staff didn’t release her until 6:20 a.m. Inspectors noted a hospital policy requiring such seclusion to end once a patient regains control and is no longer a danger.

Jack Silver, the hospital’s chief executive officer, said there were several reasons reviewers found the problems, but overall, “I think things are going good. We treat people, and there’s always improvements that can be made, and we’re looking to make improvements,” he said.

Inspectors noted that some patients didn’t take part in treatment and observed them wandering around; they didn’t see staff members following up with patients. One staff member said, “Once I let them out their door, they are on their own. I do not do the 30-minute rounds to check on the patient’s location and activity out on the mall or in the rehab groups.”

Silver said, “We need to obviously think more creatively about how to motivate people.”

He said the hospital must strike a balance between “personal choice and responsibility for treatment.”

The hospital changed some of its policies to comply with federal standards. Silver said the hospital stopped using handcuffs after inspectors left. He said he didn’t know about standards that bar the practice.

He said the hospital also wasn’t following federal standards that dictate how long a patient stays in seclusion; it is now in compliance. Finally, the hospital didn’t consider a brief “personal hold,” such as putting an arm around a patient, a formal restraint. It now requires a doctor’s order for such holds and documents them as restraints.

Lawmakers said they were surprised by the results of the federal review.

Lawmakers approved the new hospital in 2000 after the old hospital was decertified. That had threatened federal funding in 1998 because a federal review found assaults, filth, overcrowding and patients getting the wrong medications.

Rep. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, said legislators realized it would take more than a new building to treat the people who are committed there. “It comes down to operating the hospital, which is a difficult challenge considering you have the sickest of the sick there,” he said.

About half of the hospital’s 300 patients are under court-ordered treatment because they are a danger to themselves or others. The other half are criminals under court-ordered hospitalization rather than imprisonment.
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AGAIN, THIS ARTICLE IS A TEASER OF SORTS, INTENDED TO SERVE AS A QUICK READ THAT CAN READILY ILLUMINATE THE ENDEMIC SHORTFALLS AND RELATED SUBSTANDARD HEALTH CARE PRACTICES AT THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL, CONDITIONS WHICH ARE WILLFULLY CONDONED BY THE STATE OF ARIZONA'S HIGHEST AUTHORITIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ARIZONA HEALTH DEPARTMENT', WILL HUMBLE, AND MYRIAD STATE EMPLOYEES WITH THE AZ DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES WHOM FUNCTION  UNDER HIS SPECIFIC AUTHORITY. THESE PEOPLE ARE FLAGRANTLY BREACHING THE PUBLIC TRUST, AND THEY MUST BE HELD FULLY ACCOUNTABLE UNDER DIRECTLY APPLICABLE PROVISIONS OF LAW AND POLICY. THE BASIS OF THAT ACCOUNTABILITY MUST RADIATE UPWARDS FROM THE EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE BASE ACCRUED AT THE PATIENT-CLIENT LEVEL, FOR THE PATIENTS ARE THE ONES MOST FAMILIAR WITH THE FACTUAL REALITIES RELATING TO THESE MATTERS; UPWARDS AND OUTWARDS AND DIRECTLY INTO THE OFFICE(S) OF WILL HUMBLE, CORY NELSON, DONNA NORIEGA, STEVEN DINGLE, AND LAXMAN. P. PATEL, FOR THEY ARE THE ONE'S MOST CULPABLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UNABATED STATE OF CRISIS AT ASH, AND THEY KNOW IT. UNTIL THAT HAPPENS, BAND-AID APPLICATIONS SUCH AS THOSE ILLUSTRATED IN THE ABOVE 2004 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE WILL SIMPLY NOT SUFFICE IN TERMS OF MEANINGFULLY SERVING THE CURRENT NEEDS OF ASH'S PATIENT COMMUNITY. BOTTOM LINE. ONLY DIRECT PUBLIC OVERSIGHT FASHIONED IN A SUCH WAY THAT IT RESEMBLES OUTRIGHT BABYSITTING WILL SUFFICE, BECAUSE IF THESE SORTS OF MISCREANTS ARE TO BE CONTINUALLY GRANTED THE PRIVILEGE OF CARING FOR ARIZONA'S MOST SERIOUSLY MENTALLY ILL AND DISABLED CITIZENS, HISTORY HAS ALREADY SERVED TO PROVE THAT THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED OTHERWISE. 

Did Dr. Laxman P. Patel dutifully serve his patients to the fullest of his given ability as a doctor in the 1980, 1990s, or during my thirteen full months at The Arizona State Hospital (2011). No. He did not. What reason is there for anyone to presume that this man's character and related competence as a doctor are any different today? None.  And as illustrated by the above news article from 2004, Patel his associate miscreants were willfully turning a blind eye to the conditions that were exposed in relation to those revelations. In fact, at that time, Patel and company budged only so far as they needed to in order comply with directives that were derived of commonly recognized terms of decency. Which obviously implies that short of formal baby sitting, the doctors at ASH are incapable of maintaining themselves in accordance such commonly recognized terms of decency. I attest to the fact that, in my experience, the passing of time since those specific revelations arose has only led to these rat bastards slipping backwards again and into the abysmal roots of their earlier behavior. Vermin will do that, you know. Where any reasonably managed hospital would learn and evolve in relation to such processes, ASH is a public mental hospital, and such growth is beyond the character and capabilities of ASH's administrators, including officials in the state's department of health. It really is that bad. 

There is no explanation for how and why a man like this would today be entrusted with overseeing the clinical affairs of The Arizona State Hospital. No explanation, that is, behind the fact that we are talking about the Arizona Department of Health Services and one of its affiliate facilities. Substandard medical-mental health care, and they are still getting away with it.  

       HISTORY HAS SHOWN US TIME AND TIME AGAIN 

THAT THESE PEOPLE 

CANNOT BE TRUSTED. 

LET'S GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS, AND LET'S DO IT TODAY. THE PATIENTS AT ASH ARE SERIOUSLY MENTALLY ILL AND DISABLED, AND AS SUCH, HIGHLY VULNERABLE TO WHATEVER DEGREE OF INEPTITUDE PEOPLE LIKE PATEL ARE CAPABLE OF. AND AS WE NOW KNOW, THAT VERY INEPTITUDE EXTENDS WELL BACK INTO THE LAST CENTURY, AND IS STILL BEING IMPARTED ON THE PATIENTS AT ASH ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS. 

BOTTOM LINE: THE CITIZENS OF ARIZONA DESERVE BETTER.

paoloreed@gmail.com