Testimony of Staff at The Arizona State Hospital

I am more than willing to continue sharing data such as this. I do this because I understand the concerns that at least some ASH staff have about the endemic presence of senior level staff who have continually contributed to the grossly substandard mental-medical health care and practices at ASH. These specific concerns (below) were posted/expressed on the Cory "crazycorycorner.weebly.com" Nelson website almost 10 months ago, by a person or persons on ASH's nursing staff. Bottom line. And it is clear that only such staff are possessing of the details shared therein. I, for example, as a former ASH patient, cannot speak to these specific realities, and at least not to the extent that an ASH staff person can. But I can share these publicly posted comments, as I do believe such staff wish.

And as to the veracity of these publicly shared staff experiences, offered by persons who to the best of my knowledge work at ASH, in fact, I have already said it:

I could not make this stuff up if I wanted to. 

Nursing Staff.
link

02/09/2013 1:09am

ASH - I have witnessed Abuses on Patients and Employees. This is perpetrated mainly By OLDER Employees - who have worked at ASH 5-20 years. These OLDER employees are only at ASH for a (1) Paycheck (2) They all making sure that they will receive Retirement Benefits after 10-20 years of service - this includes a portion >50% of their base Salary for the rest of their LIfe. In order to receive this Free Money -- These OLDER employees have to Discharge, ignore, and outright prevent PATIENT and EMPLOYEE COMPLAINTS against themselves by stating the Patient is Psychotic or the Employee is obviously NOT WORKING. and then get the Patient or Employee moved to another Less Desirable Unit - like Cottonwood. These Employees have Formed Personal Relationships with aggressive patients like MW - and then Direct Him using -- Codewords, Nonverbal Cues, and incentives like extra privileges or women (nurses bumping up on him) -- to attack certain Employees, Nurses, Techs, and YES OTHER PATIENTS. MW is Rewarded by these Nurses and Techs with extra privileges, food/snacks, and possibly even by over looking Drugs like Spice, Bath Salts, Crushed Medications, etc. the Older Employees LET come into the units. Lastle PATIENT COMPLAINTS are not taken seriously UNLESS its against a NEW Employee - The OLDER EMPLOYEES are trying to Rid of. These older employees have a little Gang and they all meet after work at certain places, homes, and bars. The policies of ASH and obviously the LAWS of the State of Arizona regarding patients and employment do not apply to them because they can just gang up on you and lie about it. They Confidentiality and HIPPA to act like they protecting your rights when they are really using confidentiality to cover up what they are doing. The Investigators at ASH are also on Salary and Will not blow the whistle in fear of getting fired. They won't eve investigate a legitimate Complaint -- They are only there to cover the complaint up and act like they looked into it. EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION -& NEPOTISM - They are hiring their cousins, relatives, and friends and setting them up with large Salaries -- job performance standards do not apply for these people. Many of these OLDER Employees are in their 50's and 60's and would not even pass a Physical Examination to do the Job. Most of these OLD EMPLOYEES are WHITE, Caucasians -- they are literally Rednecks -- Small Town FOlk - and then there are those who are light skinned ""Mexican and White"", and, then they hired a couple Blacks and Mexicans to make it all LOOK GOOD! The blacks and Mexicans are Expendable and have a very High Turnover Rate. The Older White Rednecks with their small town racist mentality always survive the CUT -- The only way they can survive cut is apply ASH policies in a racially biased manner AND Ignore and prevent any Complaints against them from PATIENTS. No compliants made against these people are taken seriously.

Thank you, and thank you again, whoever you are, for having the courage, ethical foundation, and willingness to speak up in terms of the realties at The Arizona State Hospital, as they stand today. No amount of unfounded challenges to my work in this context can stand up against the unrelenting flow of current and former ASH staff who are increasingly stepping forward, just as this person has. And as proven in a number of very powerful media reports about ASH, the presence of patent denial(s) about these realties is losing ground. I knew this process would take time, and at times, it has been like chipping away at  a mountainside of decaying humanity with a plastic fork. So all such developments are A-ok with me, no matter the timeline.

IN CLOSING: Likewise, in terms of anyone claiming anything about my character, in any context: Prove it. As in, anything that you have thus far claimed, be it about about me, or my allegations and related evidence specific to ASH clinicians and administrators, or anything at all in terms of your statements. I am open to whatever you can come up with. But if all you are only capable of statements that amount to distorted supposition(s), invalid presumption(s), or outright discriminative attacks on anyone affected by serious mental illness- whoever they are, ACTP at ASH, or affected as I am by major depressive disorder, whatever- do not expect much in the way of success as commentators. For I am willing and able to take all such feedback seriously, including if I so choose to directly respond. Recent comments posted to this blog have taken on a the undeniable presence of very aggressive voices who are willing to go after my character, simply as a matter of seeking to delineate the truth of my testimony, documented evidence, and any other element of this site's data the illustrates the substandard mental-medical health care and practices at ASH. But to date, no critics of this blog's core data have offered anything resembling factual data, in any context. This is not to say that there are no patients who found the ASH experience positive, for I know that there are such individuals in the landscape at this time; and to you, I feel a deep need to state my pleasure in knowing that things went well for you, and ideally, that you are today doing well, in your own right. The patient community at ASH is diverse, rich in every way, and no two patients are alike.

BOTTOM LINE.

paoloreed@gmail.com