"State health and hospital officials said they won't comment on pending legislation." (see below)
Background: In terms of my earliest objective(s) specific to bringing about meaningful action on behalf of the patient community at The Arizona State Hospital, I did as a matter of fact determine that both direct federal intervention as well as the attention of Arizona lawmakers are crucially requisite to any process whereby the grossly substandard medical-mental care and practices at ASH be addressed and resolved (abolished) once and for all. Not only was my intent in this context clearly stated in numerous articles published in the first 4-6 months of this blog (April-October 2012), I also did begin submitting formal documentation about my experiences as an aggrieved ASH patient to both federal and state agencies/elected officials well before I discharged from there in late February, 2012. With the two year anniversary of my d/c fast approaching, I acknowledge my basic satisfaction with respect for the fact that indeed, these two imperatives have been met, as illustrated by 1) The October, 2013 Health and Human Services investigative findings that did establish a range of deeply egregious shortfalls specific to the ASH operation in general; 2) the following article, wherein the Arizona legislature is (required, thanks to Sen. Chad Campbell) to consider these issues in relation to an immediate need for a deep audit that can serve the purpose of the public trust, most importantly as it applies to the rights and needs of ASH's seriously mentally ill and disabled patients.
By Dave Biscobing and Mark Lemet, ABC Ch. 15. January 17, 2014.
Posted: 01/17/2014
PHOENIX - The state’s house minority leader introduced a bill this week that would require a full performance audit of the Arizona State Hospital.
Rep. Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, is sponsoring HB2357 . He’s asking for an audit of the state’s only publicly run psychiatric hospital because of a series of ABC15 investigations.
“It seems like this whole ship is broken, and they need to right the ship,” Campbell said.
The ABC15 Investigators have been investigating the state hospital for more than a year. Our reports have exposed an alarming number of escapes , a shocking level of violence and a lack of treatment and care for patients.
A patient also died in September because the hospital didn’t properly monitor him or provide adequate medical care, records show.
ABC15’s reports also triggered a federal inspection , which the hospital failed. If officials don’t correct “serious deficiencies,” the hospital could lose certification and millions of dollars in federal Medicare reimbursements.
After watching ABC15’s stories, Campbell met with top hospital officials. He said he was misled about conditions at the hospital.
“They gave us this rosy picture that everything was great, everything was fine,” Campbell said.
The last time an audit was conducted at the Arizona State Hospital was in 1999. Auditors discovered staffing shortages, a failure to provide adequate therapy for patients and a lack of ability to intervene in patient disputes.
The last time an audit was conducted at the Arizona State Hospital was in 1999. Auditors discovered staffing shortages, a failure to provide adequate therapy for patients and a lack of ability to intervene in patient disputes.
The hospital wasn’t due for another audit until 2019. State health and hospital officials said they won’t comment on pending legislation.
HB2357 has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.
Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/lawmaker-introduces-bill-to-require-full-audit-of-az-mental-hospital-after-abc15-reports#ixzz2qnCxISZq
(END OF ARTICLE)
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The Rat Bastards running The Arizona State Hospital and their superiors in the Arizona Department of Health/Behavioral Health Services continue to go around the mountain and back in terms of communicate with Arizona's citizens at least 275-300 of whom are currently hospitalized at ASH, and each of whom has family and friends. As I have detailed in dozens of previous articles in this blog, ADHS Director Will Humble and his immediate subordinate, AHDS/BHS Deputy Director Cory Nelson, have for no less than 24 months continually engaged in shocking exhibitions of deception and mistruth if and whenever well grounded, good faith reports arise about the grossly substandard medical-mental health care practices and conditions at ASH. Likewise, in terms of participating in any degree of open and unfettered democratic discourse with persons (such as I) who have repeatedly sought the services that these men are obligated to provide, we are still witnessing what I can only characterize as clearly malfeasant non-communication that further illustrates the means upon which this wrongdoing has gone on for so long. This misconduct has occurred in brazen defiance of the public trust, to the direct detriment of the ASH patient community, at the expense of Arizona tax payers across the board. I can further testify to the fact that I experienced to the worst impacts of this miscunduct while I was an ASH patient in 2011-12. Case in point, with Cory Nelson in mind:
I became aware that Nelson was due to begin his position as the newly hired Supervisor at ASH about 4 weeks before he did in fact start (on Aug. 01, 2011). I was compelled as such to draft a letter to his attention, wherein I advised him of my accrued evidence about a range of very unlawful issues as they had arisen via my very real experiences at ASH to that time. I drafted it out of good faith intent and in very civil terms, sealed it in an envelope to his attention, and submitted the document to the appropriate on-site representative in mid-July, 2011. I was willing to trust in this man, and expected nothing more than reasonable response, and as part of that statement to him, I emphasized the fact that I had put myself in grave risk of retaliation in order to report such issues, and did ask him to consider my concerns in reasonable fashion.
It was not until early October that Nelson so much as acknowledged his awareness of the document, but in doing so, he told me that he "just gotten it", and further, that the information I had provided in the document was "vague and not of any concern" to him at that time. My exact response to him was as follows:
"Rather than reject my letter on its face, why don't you ask yourself why it took this long for the thing to get to you?"
Needless to say, that initial conversation never led to anything other than further exhibitions of deplorably inept misconduct that Nelson is now known for, as per numerous news coverage about ASH that arose in part due to staff reports specific to these issues as they were effecting staff at that time. In less than 12 months on the job, Cory "meathead" Nelson had unilaterally altered the operational standards at ASH so radically that nearly 1000 staff reports in the context of direct impacts had been documented in ASH records, thus creating graphically dangerous conditions that have been occurring in violation of various state and federal laws. This crisis underlies the developments highlighted by media in recent months (inc. the above), and as I have stated more than once, all associated details thus far presented in Phoenix area media hardly scratch the surface of deeply embedded discriminations and related patient abuse that do occur at ASH on a day in-day out basis. The fact is, there is a culture of secrecy and outright deception that all senior ranking ASH staff have fostered for time immemorial, which is only consistent with the historical patterns about mental health care that most Americans are well aware of. That is the only means by which to advance in the staff hierarchy at ASH, in fact, by engaging in condoning or otherwise furthering the failure of the ASH operation to abide by established medical standards and related law and policy.
I of course have copies of all related documents in this case.
IN CLOSING: THIS IS ONLY ONE MORE STEP IN THE PROCESS, AND THERE IS DEFINITELY MORE TO BE DONE. SO LET THIS BE ONE MORE WARNING- DINGLE, L. PATEL, AKHTER, RAMOS-ROXAS, LYDON, NELSON, HUMBLE, BEDONI, BURKE, NORIEGA, RUDD, NURSE PEGGY J., NURSE PEGGY WHITE HAIRED MONSTER, CHARGE NURSES MARY ANN BONNIE AND JACKIE, AND ALL THE REST TO WHOM THIS APPLIES. YOU PEOPLE ARE WELL AWARE OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR WRONGDOING AS THEY STAND TODAY, AND IT REALLY MIGHT BE PRUDENT FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE TO DATE TURNED A BLIND EYE TO THESE ISSUES TO STEP FORWARD WHILE YOU CAN. FOR IT IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE, I PROMISE YOU THAT. STEPPING FORWARD AND AT LEAST CLAIMING THE DESIRE TO DO THE RIGHT THING MAY BE THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE YOUR ASSES AT THIS POINT. NO SKIN OFF MY NOSE THOUGH. YOU ARE ALL PART OF MY RECORDS, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
paoloreed@gmail.com
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I would really love input of any kind from anybody with any interest whatsoever in the issues that I am sharing in this blog. I mean it, anybody, for I will be the first one to admit that I may be inaccurately depicting certain aspects of the conditions
at ASH, and anonymous comments are fine. In any case, I am more than willing to value anybody's feelings about my writing, and I assure you that I will not intentionally exploit or otherwise abuse your right to express yourself as you deem fit. This topic is far, far too important for anything less. Thank you, whoever you are. Peace and Frogs.