Standard Practice Personified: Herein, Cory "crazycorycorner.weebly.com" Nelson, the man hired in 2011 to oversee The Arizona State Hospital, and this after having been ostracized in his home state of South Dakota for improprieties specific to a similar position in that state, is granted even more authority than his Arizona state contract allowed for at the time of his original hiring. Great job, Will Humble, great job, indeed.

Please feel free to see, as available online: HSC Pay Raise Sparks Questions Administrator Receives $10,000 Pay Increase By Nathan Johnson, Yankton Press Wednesday, July 7, 2010.  Therein you will find details flowing from the investigation of Cory Nelson's unlawful conduct in his prior position, pre-Arizona.

ALSO: OF THE CORRECTIONS INDUSTRY AND RELATED DISCONNECT BETWEEN ASH'S HIGHEST RANKING STAFF AND THE PATIENTS THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO SERVE, AND THE ROLE IN THE SAME CONTEXT OF FOREIGN TRAINED PSYCHIATRISTS- SUCH AS (NATIVE PAKISTANI) DR. PERVAIZ AHKTER- WHO EXHIBIT HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE BEHAVIOR IN TERMS OF MEETING THEIR OBLIGATIONS IN THIS CONTEXT, IN BLATANT DEFIANCE OF THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH AND SHOCKING INSULT TO THE CHARACTER OF OUR NATIONS' HISTORY.  

As any regular reader of this blog knows, Cory Nelson is the man directly responsible for marked shortfalls in staff safety at The Arizona State Hospital, this due his willingness to decrease security staff- with little to no input from  staff  who in fact spend the most time in direct contact with ASH patients (technicians, nurses, etc.)- the impact of which has led to escalating assaults and greatly undue injury on such staff members (again, technicians, etc.). This issue has been publicized via staff who have made their concerns known in a number of major media reports in this context (for details, see Phoenix's ABC affiliate news station, CH 15); which then led to Nelson exhibiting a clear willingness to blatantly lie to the public, as illustrated in his formal responses to these reports (Cory Nelson verbatim: "I am not saying these things haven't happened, it is just that I am not aware of these incidents at this time…"), as well as in terms of ASH's direct responsibility for the brutal death of April Mott. (for details see this blog: "A Modern Day Horror Story" 04/05/12; or The Arizona Republic, "Victim's Family Questions Why Man Was Free" by JJ Hensley Sept. 27, 2012); and other like matters which have- to date- only worsened the state of affairs at ASH specific to the quality of medical-mental health care there. As always, the worst impacts of these actions land squarely on the heads of ASH's seriously mentally ill and disabled patients. The below business news article also clarifies Arizona Department of Health Services Director Will Humble's  willingness to ignore these facts, and further illustrates the bare bones fact that he too is 100% involved in allowing for condoning the substandard medical-mental health care practices at ASH, while simultaneously advancing the clearly corrupted power dynamics by which these issues exist in the first place. I find this situation to be draconian in nature, and I see no justification whatsoever for this crisis in administrative conduct to continue; and yet it does continue,  day in and day out and even as I write, as though we live in a society with no regard for rule and order. 

Cory Nelson lands ADHS behaviorial health post

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Corey Nelson

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Angela Gonzales

Senior Reporter-Phoenix Business Journal

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Cory Nelson, who has been acting as interim deputy director for behavioral health at the Arizona Department of Health Services since August, now is permanently in that position.

Will Humble, director of ADHS, who appointed Nelson to the post permanently, said he has shown great skill and leadership in that position.

“He’s been very successful working with our leadership and our agency team as well as our behavioral health stakeholders and colleagues at AHCCCS and ADES,” Humble said. “His administrative and leadership skills are perfect for where we’re headed in the state’s behavioral health system.”

Nelson will continue to provide oversight of the Arizona State Hospital, where he has served as CEO while temporarily overseeing the behavioral health agency. But now, ADHS will begin a national search for a new CEO for the state mental hospital. That CEO will report directly to Nelson.
(END OF NEWS ARTICLE)

Only in Arizona- business as per the norm. 

Of the corrections industry and related disconnect between ASH's highest ranking staff and the ASH patients they are supposed to serve.

Prior to his employment in Arizona, circa the first decade of this century, Cory"crazycorycorner.weebly.com" Nelson spent close to 15 years as a middle level administrator of South Dakota's corrections system. As such, he acquired reasonable experience in attending to the operations of prisons, and while there may be some merit to how that form of experience might serve a person involved in any formal institution management, I contend that there is a more critical fact specific to the extraordinary difference between the status of individuals serving time in relation to criminal conduct in contrast to the dynamics of persons undergoing long term hospitalization. Indeed, this fundamental precept is only one more detail of how my flow of treatment at ASH was distorted by individuals who treated me as though I am immoral, depraved, or otherwise deserving to be treated like a criminal. I am not a felon in any sense whatsoever (I was once arrested for misdemeanor DUI in 1999, met all of my related requirements, and served no time in jail at all, and that's  the full extent of my legal record, period), and yet, one of my primary care providers at ASH, a particularly twisted psychiatrist named Pervaiz Ahkter, felt the need to ask me this question the first time we met: 

"Are you really not a felon?" 

This man, Ahkter, in fact, is a "doctor" of sorts who acquired his formal medical education in his home nation of Pakistan, of all places, where fundamental human rights and the principles of democracy are virtually nonexistent. (Of note in this context: I just viewed the film "Zero Dark Thirty", and man oh man does Ahkter's behavioral characteristics make just that much more sense today. Check it out, and ask yourself what sort of doctors from that area of the world were turning out 20-30 years ago, at the onset of America's current conflicts specific to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and so on. But I digress...). While today it is clear to me that Ahkter's aim was to insult or otherwise degrade me (in utter defiance of his role as a licensed doctor), at the time I found his inquiry very disturbing because it suggested that this particular "doctor" was either unable/unwilling to read my formal medical record, or worse yet, that he was incapable of offering reasonable medical treatment to anyone not convicted of a serious crime(s). This specific incident is only one example of how patients at ASH are treated by senior clinical staff upon whom we- the patients- most centrally depend in terms of the possible healing process and wellness in general. Indeed, I can attest to the fact that these sorts of individuals literally piss on any such healing and wellness, and they know it. Substandard medical-mental health care, and they are getting away with it.  

Prior to relocating to Arizona in 2012, Cory Nelson, cut his farm bred teeth right out of college as an administrator of a prison system in one of the very poorest states in America today, South Dakota. Towards the tail end of that 15 year period, Nelson was appointed to overseeing one aspect of South Dakota's behavioral health care network, again as a middle level administrator who in no way functioned in direct contact with the population he was responsible for serving. (A clarification may be in order: All mentally ill members of public hospitals such as ASH, etc., are also citizens of the state in which persons such as Nelson are obligated to serve). It was also during this brief period of time (2009-10) that Nelson engaged in an unlawful-unauthorized process by which he received a marked salary increase that defied the will of South Dakota's citizenry, which led to at least one formal investigation by Yankton, SD's primary newspaper (see: HSC Pay Raise Sparks Questions; Administrator Receives $10,000 Pay Increase by Nathan Johnson, Yankton Press, Wednesday, July 7, 2010). Under this cloud of suspicion Cory Nelson began seeking work outside of South Dakota, including submitting an application for the position of supervisor at Arizona's sole long term public mental health care facility, The Arizona State Hospital. He did so as a man with no formal experience working directly with mentally ill persons, who engaged in clearly unjust fiscal activities specific to the state of South Dakota's public resource base. Bottom line. And yet, as per the "wisdom" of Will Humble (NOT!), Nelson not only appeared in a pool of candidates for supervision at ASH, he was was subsequently granted that position (effective August 01, 2011), where he immediately downsized the hell out of ASH's security staff with little to no input from ASH staff in general, while simultaneously ignoring good faith communications about highly questionable clinical practices from persons like myself (who was at the time hospitalized at ASH), as well as his own staff as soon as they began experiencing graphically violent patient attacks that arose as a direct result of Nelson's actions in this context. (see online: Phoenix' ABC affiliate news station CH 15, or AZ Family CH 12 for direct video of Nelson's statements in this matter, wherein he blatantly lied about the underlying facts specific to staff concerns at that time). It was at this point they learned that in Nelson's view, it is up to them- the nurses, technicians, and so on- to defend themselves with little to no direct support from staff specifically employed to provide security. These specific matters arose within the first 12 months of Nelson's hiring, and only scratch the surface of Nelson's willingness to ignore the substandard medical, mental health care practices at ASH. And yet now, in utter contradiction to Cory Nelson's lack of scruples and related ineptitude, the man has been granted even more responsibility than ever, which now extends well beyond the walls and fences of The Arizona State Hospital itself, and directly into the lives of each and every mentally ill and disabled citizen in the state of Arizona. Substandard medical-mental health care and practice that occurs due to state level administrative corruption and related ineptitude- and they are getting away with it.  

FROM THE ABOVE ARTICLE, WILL HUMBLE ON CORY NELSON'S HISTORY AND SO CALLED SKILL BASE: 

His administrative and leadership skills are

perfect for where we're headed in the 

state's behavioral health system.

This is a horrifying thought, to say the least. If you ask this former client of the Arizona behavioral health system, with exclusive reference to my interactions with Cory "crazycorycorner.weebly.com" Nelson during my time as a patient at The Arizona State Hospital, it is clear that the patients at ASH are in more danger than ever, for not only has the ineptitude of ASH's current administrative staff been awarded by Arizona's ranking health care director, as we are now looking at a turnover rate at the very top of ASH's food chain that defies the notion of stable and consistent management, and demands the inquiry: 

Who will next take over the authority as ASH's supervisor? An individual interviewed and hired by Cory Nelson? 

Indeed, this pictures as it stands is far from pretty, but definitely serves as yet one more clear illustration of the crisis in Arizona's public health care system, as per the "leadership" (NOT!) of Will Humble, with complicity flowing from the Office of the Arizona Attorney General, and a range of other like authoritative resources. All at the expense of Arizona's taxpayers, and to the grave detriment of Arizona's most seriously mentally ill and disabled population, a population known as being highly vulnerable to neglect, exploitation, and outright abuse. Back room negotiations of the sort that led South Dakota's citizens to question Cory Nelson's lack of ethics there in his home state are now arising in the context of his advancement(s) in our home state, ARIZONA. Standard practice personified, at the expense of Arizona's taxpayers and to the full detriment of our state's most seriously mentally ill and disabled citizens. 

All that I and my patient peers at ASH have ever asked is for persons such as Cory Nelson and Will Humble to meet their most fundamental obligations as individuals granted the privilege and associated responsibilities specific to our rights and needs as seriously mentally ill and disabled citizens. But they refuse to do the right thing in this context. Bottom line. They are all in violation of law, policy, and codes of common decency, and it is time to bring this issue to an end, once and for all.   

paoloreed@gmail.com

OF: Guerilla Art- ASH Style: Patient generated dissent and expression. OF: Friends- Past and Present: Not limited to those outside of the patient community at The Arizona State Hospital, for therein I certainly do have close friends who I will not only never forget, but who I also am fully intending to see again, on my own terms.

I am at a really satisfying point in time today, one in which I can start playing around with supplemental images and other related material that will be included in a developing manuscript specific to The Arizona State Hospital and associated clinical ineptitude and administrative criminality. The images included in this post are directly at the top of the pile, too, for where better to begin than with the patients at ASH, for it is the patients who most directly suffer the worst impacts of these issues, in spite of the fact that they are the sole reason for why ASH even exists. And as to that, the manuscript is now a collaborative project, with a small handful of new contributors from a range of backgrounds and expertise, carefully selected members of the medical community, advocacy networks, and other like resources. What the rat bastards running ASH don't seem to realize, is that there are many people in our landscape who have no willingness to allow this wrongdoing to continue, particularly at a time when our nation is acutely aware of the shortcomings specific to mental health care across the board, as illustrated by our nation's shared gut reaction(s) following a number of very recent tragedies. With ASH in mind, no one issue more clearly meets that pattern of shortfalls than the brutal murder of April Mott, an event that occurred due to the unlawful conduct of ASH's highest ranking administrators.  (see this blog April 12, 2012:  A Modern Horror Story: Wherein the Administrators of the Arizona State Hospital Willfully Put the Safety of the Greater Phoenix, AZ, Community at Risk In Order to Avoid Scrutiny, Leading to the Brutal Murder of a Citizen.  (May 17, 2011-August 30, 2011)

And they are still getting away with it.

Of mountain homecomings and reunion. I am no longer in the deep south. As of last week, I am closer to home and comfortably among long and trusted friends, somewhere high in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, and well west of the Mississippi. I have anticipated this point in my life for several years now, after a much longer period of time during which I sincerely believed we never ever again see each other. The landscape of these mountains also flows to my deepest sense of identity, and therein I am rejuvenated today- magically! But my friends, oh, man, my friends….  There are those times, I believe, when the best evidence of our given character simply has to emerge via the presence of such associations, and I am extremely content with the affirmation that no matter what the circumstances, my best friends (and I) are a family in no uncertain terms, and in this sense, we will never let one another down. (Within reason… I mean, it's not as though I am an ax murderer- ha!). Likewise, the associated reaffirmation of who I am has crystalized, for my best and oldest friends are all proven to be of high character and esteem, people who greatly contribute in good ways to the given landscape around them, while simultaneously caring for their own most personal interests in ways so beautiful that it nearly boggles the mind- until I recall, as though reentering a family room: "Hey! It's just them (him or her), it is my good friend…."  The air clears and I realize that nothing is going on short of what I had always known, not about them, nor about myself. I have never expected nothing less, be it of them, nor of myself, in fact. 

The acuity of this experience has everything to do with the fact that some majority of the primary caregivers and administrators at The Arizona State Hospital do all hat they can to strip their clientele of any sense of self esteem. They do this because they feel the need to establish excessively disproportionate power over whatever semblance of autonomy that the patients' themselves may possess despite the affects of serious mental illness. They do this because they are afraid of the patients, afraid that the patients will call their bluff and expose them for what they are, and somehow destabilize the status quo by which such staff carry on with their despicable practices.

    They do this because they are set upon treating the patients at ASH like animals, which is 100% consistent with the history of public mental health care as is still stands today. This is no secret, and yet somehow they get away with this at ASH, day in and day out. 

These practices can and will deteriorate any given persons sense of identity, and this is something that I can attest to having experienced during my 13 long months of time as an ASH patient. It was undoubtedly the hardest experience I have ever undergone, far worse than the impacts of my own given mental illness, and it occurred in a hospital setting. The Arizona State Hospital, and all that that implies. 

Today then, through friendship and my sense of homecoming... I am granted a seeming rebirth that extends no farther than a rekindling of my own proven character (including my established credibility, which is crucial at this point in my work, and will play a central role in future events specific to this) as it has always stood- but for the impacts of the ASH experience. I was reeling with confusion and disconcert when I initially reentered the public milieu, February 21, 2012, for in the 13 months that I spent at ASH, various staff engaged in glaringly overt attempts to shame me, discredit me, or otherwise attack my good faith willingness to report staff misconduct; and at times it was all I could do to not give in to this pressure, pressure and outright harassment which at times did- in fact- trigger a return of acute suicidal ideation and other elements of my specific diagnosis. This, of course, is standard practice at ASH, and the well-being of the patients be damned, so far as ASH's senior clinicians are concerned. In hindsight and present tense, I survived my ASH experiences because I am nothing before or beyond the strength of my closest friends, most of whom I have known since I was a boy; persons who know me for who I am, and through whom I have the firmest of footholds in terms of remaining strong in my current pursuits. 

FACT: We- me and mine and including my friends still mired there in Arizona's dirtiest secret- are better than the rat bastards effectively running the wrongdoing at ASH, and there is a reason underlying how and why those people do what they do that flows directly from this fact. For they the rat bastards are weak. They are shallow. They are aware of how much They deserve to be held accountability, but it is not possible for Them to realize that. They will use lose in this ongoing conflict, for They are also dimwitted and stupid.

(Disclaimer: In full support of the good people at ASH, I will again make as clear as possible that my wrath is directed at those responsible for ASH's worst characteristics as a public mental-medical health care facility. For there are good people at ASH, and they know who they are- including those who I was blessed to meet. But the rat bastards at ASH have so deeply distorted the protocols that are designed to grant such individuals free and open voice, that should they express any nature of significant dissent be it specific to their needs as staff or in the context of patient rights/interests, the chances are very high that their livelihoods will be put at risk. Thank you to those ASH staff who toil under the pressure of a corrupted administration, simply in order to do what you can for the Hospital's seriously mentally ill and disabled patients. You are priceless.) 

For the time being, I am mostly focused on editing and fashioning a final product of sorts (the first manuscript), which includes meeting with contributors and organizing supplemental materials, as described above. There are several other developments in the works, and it will not be long before my voice is broadcast in a public forum that many, many people will be witness to. More updates to come. Peace and Frogs. PJ Reed. 

paoloreed@gmail.com