Will Humble, Director, Arizona  Department of Health Services. RERUN.

(2014) The following data, which was originally published in this blog in April 2012, clarifies the fact that I was doing everything possible as a patient at The Arizona State Hospital to shed light upon the grossly substandard conditions and medical-mental health care practices that occur there, as applicable (as well) to the role of state level representatives who have been 100% complicit in furthering these issues. My efforts initially began via the applicable rules of ASH itself- but that failed to make any difference- followed by my attempts to file good faith grievance reports to the ADHS/BHS Office of Grievances and Appeals- wherein staff members engaged in failing to abide by applicable codes of legal procedure in the context- and finally by directing formal letters of concern to the one man in the state system with the full authority to address all elements of these issues, as they played out. Below, see the original version of this blog post (April 2012), as well as one of the letters (including typos) that I did forward to ADHS Director Will Humble while I was still hospitalized at ASH- well before this blog in itself was created:

APRIL 2012: Wherein, my good faith attempt(s) to fully report clinical and administrative patient abuse at The Arizona State Hospital compel me to directly communicate with the highest link in the state's health care systems' entire food chain. (April, 2012) 

       Will Humble has been at the helm of the Arizona Department Health Services (ADHS) since January 2010, give or take, and I goes you might say that he inherited one hell of a pregnant cow in terms of issues flowing from ADHS affiliate agency, Behavioral Health Services (BHS), and The Arizona State Hospital (ASH). As director of ADHS, Will Humble is the ultimate authority within the state's entire health care system, meaning that each and every ASH and ADHS/BHS staff person that I have thus far identified by name in terms of my experiences at ASH and in relation to my good faith, dutiful reporting of clinical and administrative patient abuse effectively works for him.
       I decided to send the below letter to Will Humble exactly one day before I submitted my February 09, 2012, request for investigation of substandard mental health care conditions to the ADHS Office of Grievances and Appeals (OGA), because it was clear to me by that time that the staff at OGA had willfully engaged in systematic mishandling of more than one my grievance reports, and I sincerely felt that Will Humble deserved the opportunity to be made aware of my concerns before they spin entirely beyond the authoritative capacity of his office. I sent him this letter (below) in good faith, in order to both bring him up to speed in this context, as well as to hopefully gain his participation in the whole process. My professional background and related experiences in conflict resolution have taught me the intrinsic value of open communication with just about anybody willing to listen, presuming they may have a stake in the conflict at issue, and clearly, Will Humble's role as the director of ADHS entire operation belies the fact that he has a stake in my ongoing advocacy on behalf of myself and my peers at ASH.             
        As the letter (below) reveals, I took the time to clarify the full breadth of my evolving concerns as they stood at that time (early February, 2012), and while I am not in a position to verify whether or not Will Humble took any action in response to the letter, I do suspect that he may have done something in terms of communicating with ADHS OGA about these matters.

--------- (PJ Reed)

Arizona State Hospital

2500 E. Van Buren St.

Phoenix, AZ 85008

Wil Humble, Director

Arizona Dept. of Health Services

150 N. 18th Ave.

Phoenix, AZ 85007

February 08, 2012

Dr. Mr. Humble:
      I cannot apologize for feeling the need to again attempt a direct communication with your office. But I realize that you are a very busy man, and that your responsibilities extend for behind my simple needs. I am also thus compelled to at least express for sincere regret of the fact that the predicament I am working tooth and nail to address has again led me to your door. Any time whatsoever that you can afford me is appreciated, ten fold./ With all the due respect that I can muster, I am going to share my avowed belief that there are critically serious problems in the state of affairs that I am working to address. These problems are endemic. They extend to all tangible forms of patient rights and related protections, as per established law and public policy. I have learned in no ucertaion terms that anytime an individual (such as myself)) who may need to choose to call upon himself in terms of participiatingin his own treatment to the fullest capacity possible will only run into brick walls, should he attempt to speak up for himself in the face of chronic wrongdoing. I attest to this, and my statements are truthful to the best of my knowledge. I approach you purely form a standpoint go f good faith intent./

       In considering how I can best apply myself to something I can something I can only describe as an escalation of utter reject in direct defiance of my expressed concerns (some of which I have been embroiled in for 6-8 months), I have determined that what I am experiencing amounts to nothing less than a broken system. I am specifically talking about ADHS/BHS, in the sense of the term, "system".    
      More specifically, I am deeply concerned in this context about the ADHS/BHS Office of Grievances and Appeals (OGA), as it functions in relation to The Arizona State Hospital (ASH).  In keeping of the requirements of the law, as spelled out in the Arizona Administrative Code, Rule 921 Article 4, I began requesting that the ASH ombudsperson, as well as OGA, initiate an investigation into problems that arise under the language of Rule 921 Article 403b at least five months ago, when it become overwhelmingly clear to me that the entire process, as laid out in all applicable provisions of policy and procedure, is being ignored abused or not otherwise applied in accordance what the details afforded therein.

     I am interested in remedial action rather than conflict. I am not dedicated to this as matter of personal gain, but i do see it as being ablslutlely requisite in term of the very real needs, rights, and protection of all persons so affected (as I am). I do not intend or have any desire to file suit (although I know I can). I am solely dedicated to doing all I can to see that these issues be resolved to the fullest degree possible, in accordance with the specifaccly available  standeards, and as spelled out in all/any applicable treatises relating tot he issues at hand, because it si the right thing to do. /

      In closing, I have no idea if you are in a position as such to read my correspondence. I am doing what I can. Writing you this letter is an expression of civic duty. If, in fact, you do receive and read this, please take a moment, as well, to review the attached documents. I will direct the original grievance to your attention, as well, in the next few days. 

Thank you. Sincerely, --------- (PJ Reed)

       

   As the above letter shows, this was not the first time that I ever communicated with Will Humble. The fact is, he already contributed his authority to one aspect of my self advocacy efforts in late 2011, and I must say at this time, that his contribution was the most positive bit of feedback I have yet experienced in relation to my flow of mental health care in the state of Arizona to date. I am, thus, comfortable with the fact that at some time in the near future, Will Humble will be further involved in my ongoing advocacy efforts in relation to the four serious grievance reports that I am currently working on at this time. First and foremost, he will be provided with a full copy of Judge Kay Abramsohn's recommendations in relation to my recent presentations of allegations specific to case# 2011-BHS-0263-DHS, this as per standard protocol, and once he has carefully reviewed that case procedural history in its entirety, Will Humble will issue a final decision in relation to the validity of my claims with respect for the state's position on the matter, as well as in regard to Judge Kay Abramsohn's findings. 

IN CLOSING: I have maintained my good faith willingness to include all/any interested parties in relation to my numerous reports of patient abuse at ASH and in the ADHS/BHS network of authority since day one. I have, in this sense, always invited cooperation and resolution to these matters, rather than conflict and complication. My letter(s) to Will Humble have been presented in a spirit of good will, and reflect my sincere overall desire to contribute to the world I live in, in as civil and cooperative a manner as is possible. As stated already in some of my most recent articles, I anticipate that ADHS and its representative counsel in the Arizona Attorney Generals Office will try to discredit me as a seriously mentally ill person and mischaracterize my good faith efforts to address clinical and administrative abuse at the Arizona State Hospital as something other than what it is. In the face of these possible attacks on my very heart and soul, I can only hope that somebody like Will Humble will exercise his full authority in absolute accordance with the described duties of his title and his related obligations to the citizens of Arizona.

I hope that everybodies' summer is beginning in good fashion. I also hope that at least some of you can find the time to get involved in this cause. In Phoenix, where The Arizona State Hospital is located, the temperatures are already soaring into triple digits, and the patient abuse is ongoing. There is no better time to take action in support of stopping patient abuse at ASH than the present. Let's do this thing, let's do it together, and let's do it now.

UPDATE 2014: The vast majority of concerns that I sought to address while I was a patient at The Arizona State Hospital are still in effect, for as all elements of current news reports about ASH, etc., are continually proving, those persons running ASH- including representatives of ADHS/BHS (and, it follows Will Humble himself)- are still engaging in brazen defiance of the dictate of state and federal law and policy, as it arises in the context of the ASH patient community and their associated care needs and universal rights as human beings. The abject unwillingness of ASH staff to comply with their required obligations are highly indicative of a culture of corruption, which does as a matter of established fact extend well into the administrative offices of ADHS/BHS, that is occurring to the graphic detriment of the ASH patient community as a whole, at the full expense of Arizona taxpayers. Bottom line.

paoloreed@gmail.com