3) Of Cory "this is type of #!%*!! that gets people in my position fired" Nelson's Legacy. (RE: staff shortages, nurses and security).

Also known as The Predation continues.

As reported in the Phoenix Business Journal less then one week ago (see excerpt below), the current governor of Arizona, and Arizona's citizens, are currently faced with trying to remedy the dreadfully negative impacts brought onto the patient community at the Arizona State Hospital (ASH) by former ASH CEO's Donna "You are sooo busted!" Noriega and Cory "This is type of #!!**#*#!! that gets people in my position fired!"Nelson. Potentially lethal risk of harm to both patients and staff that was, in large part, also created by the presence of nitwit Will "Yea team!!!" Humble, who, as the acting Director of Arizona's overall health care system circa 2010-2015, did in fact hire, and then promote Nelson (very much as though awarding the Rat Bastard for his involvement in highly questionable supervision of the facility itself) despite the fact that he (Humble) had clearly extensive awareness of the ongoing presence of substandard care practices and related conditions at ASH.

PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL

Modest spending increases, no tax cuts (yet) in Gov. Doug Ducey’s $9.5B budget. By Mike Sunnucks, senior reporter. January 15, 2016.

"Arizona Governor Doug Ducey released a 9.48 billion budget plan Friday that includes 31.5 million in new money... The governor is (also) proposing a $5.3 million upgrade to the State Capitol in Phoenix, $20.4 million in upgrades to state buildings and money to hire more nurses and security guards and deal with problems at the Arizona State Hospital."

That said, the current need  "to hire more nurses and security guards and deal with problems at the Arizona State Hospital" was and obviously still is an issue that I became familiar with before I had even left ASH in February, 2012. Staff with whom I maintained good relations with, (aka "good staff", who were- sadly, and likely still are- a minority), shared their increasing distress over the fact that newly hired ASH CEO Cory Nelson was actively engaging in very significant staff cuts, with particular concern over security staff downsizing, that did in fact lead to a radical rise in patient-on-staff, patient-on-patient, and in my learned opinion, the likelihood of staff on patient violence (circa 2013-15). Of course, the violence itself never directly effected those ASH staff functioning in the Hospital's administrative offices, where persons like Cory Nelson, Donna Noriega, Jennifer Alewelt, Joel Rudd, Dr. Steven Dingle, and the various staff psychiatrists, etc., carried on during the period in question with their nefarious activities; a fact that further confirms the gross disconnect between such executive staff and the world of ASH at the ground level, where the direct care staff work for up to 12 hours a day, and each and every ASH patient resides 365/24/7. Therein, an ongoing need for overall reform throughout not only the ASH facility in itself, but on upward into the realm of ADHS's Office of Grievances and Appeals, the Arizona Office of the Attorney General, and so on. As stated above, former ADHS director Will Humble blatantly failed to take meaningful action when he had the chance- which he is still due oversight and accountability for- thus compelling me BIG TIME to encourage current ADHS director Dr. Cara Christ to meet her own given obligations as they stand today.     

As follows:

(I did in fact report this issue as long ago as 2014, as the following article illustrates.)

Grossly Understaffed: As to the current staffing crisis at The Arizona State Hospital created by the horrifically substandard conditions that Hospital administrators have been condoning for no less than 10 years, to date.  

"They are severely understaffed, and relying upon temp services- which is EXPENSIVE!" (email to me, dated July 11, 2014)

As stated in my most recent article, published July 10, 2014, I did seek feedback about the information reflected below:

Crucial Update: Arizona State Hospital hiring all positions!
BAM! "The Arizona State Hospital is holding a job fair Wednesday. The hospital needs registered nurses, social wokers, psychiatrists and psychologists and will be interviewing until noon at the hospital near 24th and Van Buren streets."

I claim this as a direct hit in terms of the further establishing the need to reform the substandard conditions and associated medical practices at The Arizona State Hospital. I will need to research the matter a bit more closely, but I am willing to suggest that my work has directly contributed to this development. (July 10)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------My inquiry in this matter, sent yesterday via email:

--- PJ Reed <paoloreed@gmail.com> wrote: "Are you folks aware of this? And if so, S------ especially, what might you  be aware of as to why all positions at ASH are currently being filled/re-filled, as it were? Thanks.

And the response from one of my sources, received earlier today:

"They are severely understaffed, and relying upon temp services, which is EXPENSIVE. 

The fact that the sole long term public mental heath care facility cannot even maintain a reasonably stable of full time staff has arisen as a direct consequence of Cory Nelson's negative impacts on the operation of ASH in the years 2011-12. This man was hired as Chief Executive Officer at ASH in August, 2011, and shortly thereafter, he unilaterally tweaked the standards at ASH so radically that staff and patient safety spiraled downhill like a train without brakes, leading to countless episodes of violence, and the virtual exit of many of ASH's most qualified workers. One of the biggest alterations in this context has to do with Nelson's major downsizing of trained security staff, which he imparted under the guise of an operational approach entitled "Culture of Care". I attest to having witnessed the earliest phases of this process over the last 6 months of my time as an ASH patient, and the fact that numerous staff who I was on good terms with were increasingly expressing fear and anxiety about the changes that this Rat Bastard was putting into effect with little to no input from ASH staff, some of whom have been dedicating their lives to the operation of ASH for many, many years. In my own right, I also experienced heightened anxiety and duress following Nelson's arrival at ASH that arose when he and former Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steven Dingle unlawfully retaliated against me by transferring me from the most peaceful treatment unit at ASH to the most violent, an action so imparted because of my willingness to openly report staff misconduct and clinical/administrative ineptitude, which I witnessed and experienced firsthand on a nearly daily basis for the entirety of my time as an ASH patient. It was that bad then, and today, it is clearly no better.

IN CLOSING: My concerns and work in general specific to the blog, etc., has always been centered on behalf of my former patient-peers at The Arizona State Hospital. But it goes farther, for I have also said from the get go that while The Arizona State Hospital is somewhat dominated by senior ranking nursing and psychiatric staff who have no regard whatsoever for the rights and care needs of their patients, there are also many good people working there who have been trying to serve their patient clients to the best of their given ability, in spite of the presence of the wrongdoing their supervisors, and so on. These good ASH staff carry on  as such because they are possessive of reasonable morality and associated heartfelt concern for their patient clients, and because they need their job(s). Indeed, these latter staff members know all to well about the fact that should they take a stand against the misconduct of other staff, including and especially with their supervisors in mind, they too will be retaliated against by ASH administrators; this is how it has always been, and it should be of no surprise to familiar with state managed bureaucracies across the board. At ASH, there is both a "What happens at ASH stays at ASH" mentality in effect, as well as a "Do not make waves!" mindset that has manifested due to the asinine management practices occurring there today, and the attendant fact that if you want to keep your job at ASH, then dare not challenge the status quo. In this context, my work is also oriented towards seeking improved employment practices at ASH, out of my heartfelt appreciation for those "good" ASH staff who played a central role in my own treatment as a patient there. And they know who they are: Pearls in the Desert. 

UPDATE 2015: How the hell is it, more then 8 months after Dr. Cara Christ and current ASH CEO Dr. Aaron Bowen accepted their positions, that the staffing at ASH is still so miserably shorthanded? What are they waiting for? Another federal inspection and related probation, or outright threats to facility licensure?  More avoidable deaths? These questions reel through my mind with the closing of each passing day. I have more friends at ASH then I can easily list, former patient-peers, as well at least some  staff, and knowing as I do that they are still being subjected to grossly unlawful conditions literally makes me sick to the core of my conscience.

Come on, people (above)! Get with it, already! Do the right thing! And knock it off with the resistance to transparency, the willingness to maintain a mindset of "what happens at ASH stays at ASH", and eliminate once and for all the directly related presence of persons such as Dr. Steven Dingle, Dr. Perviaz Akhter, Dr. Rosa Ramos-Roxas, and last but far from least, assistant attorney general Joel "Angel of darkness-the Moritician" Rudd . These people are only part of the overall problems at stake, but until they are held accountable, the "We can get away with it" mentality of those persons most directly associated with the care of the ASH patient community will continue unabated, which is patently unacceptable to the citizens of Arizona across the board. Deterrence is key, and you two can assuredly bring that about. So make it happen while you still can.

paoloreed@gmail.com

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