Records As They Stand (cont.)

This is an ongoing process in all senses, one which I will continue to stimulate to the best of my ability, for as long as it takes. There is much to be done in terms of addressing the grossly substandard medical-mental health care practices and general conditions at The Arizona State Hospital, and only rigorous dedication to the full implications as they arise will suffice in seeing that the one's most directly responsible for creating the identified crisis at ASH are brought to full accountability under established law and policy. We have to date been successful in drawing the attention of ASH administrators and ADHS/BHS officials away from those ASH staff who have risked their livelihoods in order to report these issues to the press and public, while also shedding increased light upon the fact that it is the ASH patients who are most at risk in relation to any such shortfalls, as they may arise. But there are still well in effect, however, deeply endemic dynamics underlying the means by which these conditions have prevailed in brazen defiance of said law, standardized medical practice, and common decency. It has gone on for decades, day in and day out, fully supported through systematic ignorance by some of Arizona's highest ranking state officials, to the direct detriment of ASH's seriously mentally ill and disabled patients. Yes, ASH staff are deserving of equal protection as per such law and policy, but we cannot lose sight of the fact that the ASH patient community are the sole justification and fundamental purpose of a facility like ASH to even exist. If not for the needs and rights of the patients, in other words, there would be no ASH, no associated job opportunities, no related federal funding on behalf of the public welfare, etc.; but if it is established that ASH patients are not being provided with their deserved services as a consequence of abject and ongoing clinical and administrative misconduct, this primary directive has no meaning, and all related public interests are lost. Herein the primary objective of my work as it stands today, flowing as it does from my deepest sense civic duty and heart felt compassion for others, particularly those of us who are at risk and vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and negligence.

December 17, 2013.

Dear Congressman Campbell: 

    

I again wish to express my deep thanks with respect for your decision to further investigate the substandard care practices, conditions, and administrative mismanagement of The Arizona State Hospital. I also have deep appreciation for any attention that you and your staff have given to my direct communications with you, to date. I will say again that based upon my very real experience(s) during 13 months of "treatment" at ASH in 2011-12, I am firmly of the learned opinion that a range of critical issues need immediate and direct oversight at this time, on behalf of the seriously mentally ill and disabled ASH patient community as a whole, as well as those "good" ASH staff who have been wrongfully subjected to threats to on-the-job safety (representative of violations of state and federal law specific to equal protection), as well as their given job security should they openly voice concerns about these issues as they stand (in violation EEOC law, as well as federal whistle blower protection statutes). Each and every sordid detail that has arisen of late, in media etc., only scratches the surface of the deeper problems at ASH, and via my dedicated documentation (while at ASH), and related advocacy efforts, I can prove it. 

That said, I wish to additionally request the following: Should the AZ legislature take action in terms of considering this matter, I respectfully demand the opportunity to testify on behalf the patient community at ASH, in keeping with my rights as an AZ citizen-consumer who is affected/disabled by serious mental illness, with specific concern for the fact that the associated state health care services that I (and all ASH patients, their families, etc.) reasonably expect- as per the required obligations of ASH (admin., sr. clinicians, and ADHS/BHS officials) as a public health care facility under state and federal law- were grossly denied as a consequence of the abject ineptitude and outright unlawful misconduct of such state employed health care representatives. I have long hoped that the AZ legislature would take a good faith look at these issues, issues which I have been reporting to state and federal authorities since my time as an ASH patient, 2011-12. I attest to the fact that my documented data, including that which I published in my blog as early as spring 2012, predates the vast majority of recent media reports, and further, that all such media sources have relied somewhat upon my efforts (specific to my publishing my blog since April 2012) as they have compiled and aired those reports. With this historical fact in mind, I do feel that I am deserving of the opportunity to go before the legislature and meaningfully/formally share some degree of my experiences and related concerns. I am an aggrieved citizen-consumer who as a former ASH patient can attest to having suffered very real harm specific to my interests and general welfare during my time at ASH; but well beyond my own needs or interests, my chief concern has to do with the welfare of the ASH patient community, inc. my former patient-peers, and beyond. 

Likewise, I am equally concerned today about the fact that Cory Nelson is now Deputy Director of the entire AZ Behavioral Health Services network, this a man who in 2011-12 did willfully engage in unilaterally altering the operational system at ASH with no input from far more experienced ASH staff- in clear nonconformity with hospital policy and associated state and federal law, thus creating the crisis that you are now most concerned with in terms of safety at ASH- and who then went further in egregiously misrepresenting the factual truths about these matters when he was asked about it in prime time news reports; the implications therein are broad with respect for the greater mental health community, all of whom are equally deserving of services that Nelson and his superiors in ADHS/BHS have clearly failed to provide. As I believe you are aware, Nelson's misconduct has occurred in complicity with various state officials, including but not limited to Joel Rudd of the AZ Office of the Attorney General (ASH's long time on-site legal counsel); ADHS Director Will Humble (who shares Nelson's willingness to mischaracterize the validity of hard data presented to him by myself, PHX area media, and is also responsible for having promoted Nelson from his short term position as ASH Supervisor to that of D.D. of BHS); as well current and former ASH clinical administrators such as Dr. Steven Dingle (ASH's former Chief Medical Officer, centrally involved in the illegal cover up of the Jesus Murietta escape in May, 2011, and who has since been promoted within the ADHS/BHS construct); and current ASH Supervisor Donna Noriega (who has an established record of violations specific to her licensure as an AZ Behavioral Health professional, as recently as 2012, wherein she was sanctioned by her accrediting board for having been patently untruthful while exercising her authority as a BH prof). These five highly paid/trusted state employees are far from alone in terms of evidence that I have compiled specific to clinical and administrative wrongdoing at ASH, data which includes grossly egregious misconduct exhibited by ASH psychiatrists across the board, as a matter of standard practice; misconduct which directly contributes to the presence of very real physical, psychological, and emotional abuse imparted upon ASH patients by many of the lower ranking staff (sr. level "charge" nurses, i.e., certain BH technician staff, and so on). As such, with the wider breadth of these issues in mind, my desire to contribute to reform at ASH and beyond in the ADHS/BHS system also bears significance with respect for the rights and needs of all AZ citizens. 

I do not know if it is appropriate to "demand" this opportunity to share my knowledge base in a formal legislative session, and I apologize if the tone of my request is over the top. I mean no disrespect. But I am also determined to take full advantage of and exercise my right to speak to these issues as a law abiding and deeply vested citizen in the context of the current crisis at ASH, and so on. I will continue to research the affairs of ASH and report upon my knowledge base as it evolves, and am seeking this opportunity in 100% good faith. Any assistance you can offer in terms of granting access to the possible legislative process will be greatly appreciated. Likewise, I know that I can be of assistance to you and your staff in the context of ASH, if you should so wish, and will be more than happy to share all aspects of my concerted work, in all senses. Please do not hesitate to request anything at all from me. 

Sincerely, P------- (aka PJ Reed, author "The Arizona State Hospital and Patient Abuse" [blogspot.com])

PS: Happy Holidays to you and your staff, good sir.     

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I wish to extend my wish for a Happy Holiday to each and every patient currently undergoing medical-mental health (mis)treatment at The Arizona State Hospital; and to those ASH staff who I know are willing and able to commit themselves to doing the best work they can in spite of the graphically disproportionate and clearly unlawful abuses of authority at ASH, by which such good staff are subjected to myriad challenges that no Arizona citizen should have to face. All of it, to the direct detriment of the seriously mentally ill and disabled ASH patients, in blatant defiance of the interests of tax paying Arizona citizens, and solely to the benefit of highly unethical senior ASH clinicians and  administrators, and their superiors in ADHS/BHS. I would love to learn that 2014 holds change that can serve to rid ASH of these issues once and for all, but in the meantime, I again wish those of you who deserve it a Happy Holiday.

paoloreed@gmail.com