AND OF: Dr. Laxman Patel, Dr. Ruby Roxas-Ramos, Dr. Pervaiz Akhter, Dr. Lynn Lydon, Dr. Sylvia Dy; social workers Megan Mitscher and Robert Washington; ADHS Director Will "Yea, team!!!" Humble, former ASH CEO Donna "You are soooo busted!" Noriega, former ASH CEO/Deputy Director of BHS Cory "The is the type of shit that gets people in my position fired" Nelson; assistant AZ attorney general Joel "Angel of darkness-The mortician" Rudd and his paralegal secretary Cindy "Lard ass" Froelich; Kara Burke, Teresa Bedoni, and Margery Ault of the ADHS Office of Grievances and Appeals; the war horse charge nurse Peggy and her associate in arms Peggy Jorgenson, and the uber-abusive technician Elaine Traylor; and a host of other involved parties directly associated with the long standing substandard conditions in Arizona's sole long term public mental facility.
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| Pervaiz Akhter ASH psychiatrist 1999-2014 Current CEO Transitions Center, PLLC Tempe, AZ |
(2016 NOTE: The following was originally published May, 02, 2012, less then ninety (90) full days after I was discharged from one the most horrendously mismanaged state mental hospitals in the nation, the Arizona State Hospital (Phoenix). This information in itself slightly highlights the full data that I documented during the entirety of my thirteen (13) long months as an ASH patient, and reflects the simple fact that ASH staff at all levels of employ engaged in undeniably substandard conduct, ranging from grossly negligent indifference exhibited by ASH physicians and administrators, to outright physical and psychological abuse imparted on myself and my patient-peers by ASH nurses and technicians. As this record shows, these issues arose in my experience on a near daily level. At the time that I published this record- May 2, 2012- it was my intent to initiate some nature of attention, any sort of attention more succinctly speaking, to what some today are characterizing as the ugliest public mental health facility scandal in the new millennium. I had initially felt that I would only be producing this blog, The Arizona State Hospital and Patient Abuse, again, merely to draw immediate support to those I left behind once I did in fact discharge from ASH; my former patient-peers, that is, many of whom I know for a fact to be highly at-risk of harm due to the simple fact that Hospital administrators and their "higher ups" in the AZ Department of Health were continually engaged in creating and/or condoning the brutally unjust conditions at ASH. (In this vain, since my departing ASH in in feb. 2012, there have been no less then three (3) avoidable deaths of ASH patients, which- in addition to the murder of April Mott in Sept. 2011 by escaped ASH patient Jesus Murietta- tragically illustrate the impacts of persons who have historically refused to do the right thing with respect for medical standards and the related sup-par conditions at ASH). I had, by early summer, 2012, come to realize that these issues were further being ignored by officials in the Arizona administrative courts, which did compel me to seriously consider the idea of a book, given the disturbingly clear fact that ASH was being mismanaged not just due to the ineptitude of its given administrators, but as importantly due to implications suggestive of the fact that all aspects of the related state agency(s) system were equally at fault. I shortly thereafter consulted with and acquired an editor, who did agree to follow my work for the immediate time being, with the specific possibility that should the issues that I was publishing in the blog result in some nature of broader fruition- as in consequential results- which as we all know today, has indeed come about. It was at that point, too, summer into fall 2012, that my editor advised me to retain the bulk of my well detailed data, with the very real idea of publishing the full breadth of such data in the final text (which is in development today). Thus, I ceased updating the on-line record in the fashion that I did in this following article. But since it was already out there, I chaose to keep the article active. Of note to me today, Feb. 20, 2016. that the article itself has garnered a bit a fresh attention in recent weeks, which has in fact compelled to be offer this update.)
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Summary Of Past Articles. (May 02, 2012)
A recap of my running report about my experiences
at The Arizona State Hospital as thus far presented.
Keep in mind, these are only the most loudly documented aspects of my negative experiences as an ASH patient, representing around 65% of my documentation emanating from that period of time; but generally speaking, and as reflected in the following accounts, virtually each and every day was peppered with wide varieties of staff misconduct and related abuse at all levels. imparted upon ASH patients by some marked proportion of ASH staff at all levels of employ. with full complicity of officials in Arizona's Dept. Of Health/Office of Grievances and Appeals. and representatives of the Arizona Office of the Attorney General.
I attest to all elements of the following. Bottom line.
Following transport by ambulance from University of Arizona Medical Center South Campus in Tucson (UAMC), I arrive at the Arizona State Hospital in Phoenix (ASH) in late morning, where a full and unopened bottle of 60 count ten mg Ambien (a powerful and lethally dangerous medication that can sell on the street for $10 per ten mg tablet) is promptly stolen by either ASH' security staff, nursing staff, or one of the behavioral health technicians on the Palo Verde East unit at ASH.
January 14, 2011:
On the third day of my time as an ASH patient, Palo Verde East charge nurse named Peggy (the really mean one with the white hair who never gets out of her seat behind the counter of the nurse's station) informs me that I am not allowed to eat dinner on the unit and very rudely teases me when I inform her that I was threatened by one of the more volatile patients out on the patient mall earlier in the afternoon. I file my first ASH grievance out of concern for this nurse's grossly inhumane attitude. .
Febrary 01-06, 2011:
I undergo a lengthy psychological assessment administered by a residential level (non-licensed) praticioner (Holmes).
April 01, 2011:
ASH enters a period of no dutifully hired chief executive officer-supervisor that lasts for 4 full months, putting the majority of the ASH activities into the control of ASH' chief operating officer, Donna Noriega, and chief medical officer, Dr. Steven Dingle.
April 08, 2011:
I put seven letters in the mail to non-profits and other like resources in the hope/intent of finding someone willing to help Audrey P. with an electric wheelchair.
April 12, 2011
I meet with my primary attending physician, Dr. Laxman Patel, and seek counsel on his feelings about my escalating desire/need to address staff misconduct and directly related patient abuse at ASH, and Dr. Patel responds by asking me "What? Do you think you can change the system?", and further tells me that "ASH is not the right hospital for you."
April 18, 2011:
I draft and mail my second letter of disdain to the Arizona Department of Health Services over the ongoing and very volatile issue of illicit substance sales and use in the patient bathrooms and other places because I am very concerned about my own safety and the basic threat posed to other, non-substance abusing patients at ASH.
April 20, 2011:
The results of the lengthy psychogical assessment that I underwent in early Febraury, 2011, are released, revealing a diagnosis including but not limited to: major depressive disorder and asssociated traits inc. suicidal ideation, mild to moderate schizoidism (not to be confused with schizophrenia), chronic alcohoism, personality disorder not otherwise specified. This diagnosis, again determined by a non-licensed representative of ASH's "medical staff", contains several distinct inconsistencies with my given psychiatric diagnosis to date, which had in fact been established in my immediate history by a licensed psychiatrist in another hospital.
April 24, 2011:
My primary attending physician Dr. Laxman Patel informs me that he is going to recommend me for discharge from ASH because he has issues with my stated philosophies about suicide, depression, and other other related things.
April 25, 2011:
A three man yelling fest and fist fight over illicit substances sales erupts directly in front of the patient mall bathrooms. which are open to all patients as well as the public, as may apply.
April 26, 2011:
Audrey P. informs that me that her primary attending physician, Dr. Ramos-Roxas, is angry with her because I mailed seven letters out in the hope/intent of finding someone willing to help Audrey P. with an electric wheelchair.
April 26, 2011:
I meet for the first time with an advocate, John Gallagher, from the state office of human rights about the dangers posed at ASH by the sales and use of illicit substances.
April 30, 2011
At the monthly meeting of my inpatient treatment and discharge planning team, I again bring up staff misconduct and patient abuse, and Dr. Patel takes issue my willingness to report staff misconduct and directly related patient abuse at ASH by:
1) calling me a "nitpicker...";
2) characterizing my habit of taking notes with the statement: "You write down everything I (Patel) say and then argue about it later";
3) and further suggesting that I "request a different doctor", to which I immediately agree;
4) and when I inquire as to what I need to do to make it happen, Dr. Patel states "We will handle that."
April 30, 2011:
A member of Audrey P.'s treatment team, who I learned over time was trustworthy and in absolute agreement with me about the substandard care practices at ASH, further informs of the following, with respect for Audrey's right to be provided with optimum medical technology specific to her given medical needs:
1) Yes, Dr. Ramos-Roxas had indeed expressed anger over the simple fact that another ASH patient (me) had taken steps to determine whether anybody in the greater community (outside of the Hospital) would be willing to assist Audrey in acquiring an powered wheelchair;
2) and that- in fact- several of the entities I had contacted in this context did respond and offer to provide Audrey with such technology;
3) but that in graphite spite of this fact (as in resentment), Dr. Ramos-Roxas had summarily disposed of those responses "into the nearest trash can."
May 02, 2011:
I undergo a 1:1 consultation with ASH Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Steven Dingle, who establishes that I will do well to continue with my treatment at ASH for at least a few more months (n contradiction to Patel's medical opinion on the issue, and assures me that I will meet my new doctor immediately concerning my clinical status at ASH
May 03-21, 2011:
I experience a three week gap in direct care from a primary care physician, although Dr. Patel appears at times and implies that I cannot, in fact, change physicians (despite having made the suggestion himself), which I disagree with, given the fact that he made it clear to me on April 30 that I should be treated by "another doctor;"
May 03-21, 2011 On two subsequent occasions, Dr. Patel approaches me and asks me to sign a document regarding my legal status at ASH that I am not informed enough about to feel comfortable with signing, but it is also a document that has no legal bearing or merit until very late May, and in both cases that I am also unwilling to sign predated legal documents of any kind.
May 17, 2011:
Jesus Rincon Murietta, who is a fellow patient and casual friend of mine from Tucson, escapes ASH by swiping an employee identification/electronic pass card and exiting the property through at least three highly secure doors/gates.
May 19, 2011:
ASH' Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Steven Dingle, briefly meets with me on the patient mall, agrees with my concerns about Dr. Patel's overt attempts to get me to sign a predated legal document, and assures me that I am not under Dr. Patel's care anymore.
May 24, 2011:
I contact JJ Hensley at The Arizona Republic newspaper by phone and report Jesus Rincon Murietta's escape because A) I am concerned about Jesus' safety, B) the greater publics' safety, and because by all appearances C) ASH administration has opted to cover up news of the escape. May 25, 2011: RE: ADHS/DBHS OGA Docket #H090611S0009 (at this time, pending assignment and scheduling for OAH judicial review):
Following my lawful refusal, at 9:40 a.m., to sign a legal document relating to my inpatient status at ASH that I was not even comfortable discussing until I had staffed it with my court appointed attorney, I am:
1) threatened with immediate discharge into homelessness by a paralegal secretary from ASH' legal office (Froelich);
2) interrupted as I am attempting to phone my attorney in regards to the matter by an ASH psychiatrist who I have never even met, Dr. Lynn Lydon, who advises me without explanation that I am required to subject myself to a psychiatric assessment to be conducted by her at that time, which I refuse to take part in, and subsequently;
3) pulled out of a therapy session by security, who escort me against my wishes and without explanation to Palo Verde East unit, where I am;
4) advised without any explanation by two nurses and a social worker that my status has been altered from "full grounds privileges" to that of highly restrictive "suicide watch", after which I am;
5) unlawfully served legal notice that my new (at that time) primary attending physician, Dr. Pervaiz Akhter, and ASH' Chief Medical officer. Dr. Steven Dingle), in complicity with the Office of the AZ Attorney General's Joel Rudd), has without explanation initiated a petition for court ordered involuntary treatment, this despite the fact that I am already subject to the authority of a one year court order for treatment that has been in effect for six months;
6) refused privacy by nursing staff when a state employed human rights advocate named John Gallagher comes to meet with me as per a prior scheduling in relation to an unrelated, ongoing confidential issue.
May 26, 2011:
I consult with my court appointed attorney on the above matter, and when I advise ASH staff of this, my primary attending physician, Dr. Pervaiz Ahkter, comes to me in person for the first time in relation to this ongoing spectacle and advises me that the "suicide watch" has been removed and my status as a "full grounds privileges" patient restored, and that ASH' legal petition for court order has been withdrawn, too. When I ask him why I was placed on "suicide watch", he responds by telling me that a summary review of my compiled (six months) ASH records had compelled him to presume that I was deserving of "suicide watch" status, this despite my having maintained event-free status as a "full grounds privileges" patient for the entirety of my six months of treatment at ASH until that date. When I ask him about the legal petition, he declines comment.
June 01, 2011:
JJ Hensely of the AZ Republic newspaper informs me that ASH administrators have categorically denied the occurrence of any escapes in recent history (despite the bare bones fact that Jesus Murietta had escaped ASH on May 17), and that he will not be able to run a story without further verification of the event.
Thursday, July 07, 2011: RE: ADHS/DBHS OGA Docket #B090811S0036; OAH Case #2011-BHS-0263-DHS (judicial review and case to be heard May 17, 2012);
At 8:20 a.m., a behavioral health technician (Traylor) verbally and physically assaults and injures me as I am standing in front of the medication window on the Palo Verde East unit, following which:
1) my immediate cries for assistance from other Palo verde East staff are ignored;
2) my request to contact Phoenix police in order to lawfully report the attack is refused;
3) my continued statements to the effect of express desire to file a police report are continually rejected, until late in the afternoon, when;
4) I am advised by my primary attending physician, Dr. Ahkter),, that he has reviewed video footage of the assault, and that in his opinion, no assault has occurred, at which time;
5) a nurse named Dan Dwyer advises me that I "can make that phone call to the police" if I am "still interested," to which I respond "Hell yes, I am," leading to;
6) I am finally granted access- at 3:45 p.m.- to placing my call to Phoenix police more than seven full hours after the attack, after which:
7) I am escorted by three very intimidating security guards, who advise me that filing a police report "is not a very good idea", to meet with four Phoenix police officers, who;
8) immediately reject the merit of my basic claim and advise me that review of the video footage shows nothing even remotely akin to assault of any kind; the police officers then refuse to file a formal report of assault on my behalf, and in parting ways, further engage in ridiculing my lucidity and questioning my honesty.
Friday, July 08, 2011:
At 8:00 p.m. I meet with an Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) Investigations representative, Vicky Fox), in regards to the July 07 attack on me, who then proceeds to:
1) present me with a formal ADHS "critical incident" document, after which;
2) she has a security guard take 4-5 digital photos of the very visible bruising on my right side upper rib cage, and then;
4) takes time to review some non-free streaming video footage with me that clearly shows the technician (Traylor) approach me with both hands held up and waving around in front of her face and body as she verbally assaults me exactly as I reported it, but the video footage skips at precisely that moment when Elaine Traylor strikes me.
Saturday, July 09, 2011:
Four security guards pull me out of a therapy session and escort me against my wishes in order to meet with a "visitor" who they refuse to identify in a main ASH lobby building conference room, following which:
1) a Phoenix police officer advises me that the ASH technician who attacked me (Traylor) has filed a report of assault against me, and then asks me;
2) "Are you willing to answer some questions?", to which I respond;
3) "No. I have already spoken to Phoenix police about this, and a department of health services investigator is already conducing an investigation in regards to this matter", following which;
4) a Pale Verde East unit charge nurse named Mary Ann, refuses to perform any level of physical examination of my sore ribs which are by now so stiff that my breathing is effected, on the basis that she "won't risk it" because she knows what I am "up to," and that in her opinion I am "litigious," at which point;
5) two senior ASH nursing staff representatives (Bonnie, Jackie) appear in obvious order to support of the action of (Mary Ann) flatly ignoring my basic request that somebody please take a look at my ribs;
6) I go to bed that night without having been granted any examination of my sore and potentially broken ribs that day.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
One of the four security guards that escorted me to meet with the policeman the previous day (Vita) approaches me and asks:
1) "Are you all packed up?", to which I respond;
2) "What are you talking about?", compelling him to advise me that;
3) "The hospital's attorney is pressing charges against you, and they are coming to take you to county lockup first thing in the morning!"
Monday, July 11, 2011:
Panicked over the idea that I might be aarrested and taken to jail today, I contact the hospital ombudsman-patient advocate, Sonya Serda, at first light in order to gain some idea of whether or not the hospital's attorney is going to have me arrested, and;
1) the hospital ombudsman (Serda) and chief operating officer Donna Noreiga advise me that they have no knowledge of me being arrested, but that such things are outside the scope of ASH administrations concerns, leaving me in a state of high anxiety that doesn't subside for weeks, and;
2) she (Noriega) promises me that she will personally look into identifying the security guard who had advised me of the plan to have me arrested and then address the matter of him unlawfully advising me on matters far outside the scope of ASH securitys' authority, following which;
Monday, July 11, 2011: My primary attending physician (Ahkter) informs me (for the first time) that ASH' office of risk management has ruled that I must be transferred from the most peaceful unit (Palo Verde East) to another unit (desert Sage east), but he can offer me no clinical reasoning whatsoever as to the decision;
4) I file a grievance with the ASH ombudsman (Serda) because I am not satisfied with the decision to transfer me under these conditions;
5) I also call my contact in the state human rights office (Gallagher), and he assures me that he will e-mail administration in my defense, because he is aware of my good faith involvement in addressing illicit substances trafficking at ASH and of related threats of violence that has been imparted from me by patients on the more violent units because they perceive me as a "snitch."
July 31, 2011:
The best and possibly only ethical state employed human rights advocate (Gallagher) in Arizona resigns his position in order to begin a doctorate program at Arizona State University.
August 01, 2011:
Following four months of no duly hired cheif executive officer at ASH Cory "crazycorycorner.weebly.com" Nelson assumes supervision of the entire ASH operation under authority of the deputy director of the AZ Department Behavioral Health Services (Dr. Laura Nelson).
Thursday, September 01, 2011:
An ASH security staff member informs me that Jesus Rincon Murietta has brutally murdered a young Phoenix woman named April Mott and is currently being held in jail for the crime, following which:
1) I call The AZ Republic newspaper and speak with an editor, and remind him of my prior communications with JJ Hensley in relation to Jesus' late May escape, to which the editor responds "Great tip!";
2) I am then put back in touch with JJ Hensley, who is shocked to learn that the same man advises me that he intends to initiate another investigation into the matter. Hensley also states "I feel as though her blood is on my hands..."
Friday, September 02, 2011
A formal grievance document prepared on my behalf by a human rights advocate (Gallagher) in regards to the sequence of events on and around May 25-28, 2011 (as described above) is submitted to ASH administration.
Sat. September 03, 2011-September 20, 2011:
I draft and put detailed letters into the outgoing ASH patient mail about the Jesus Murietta escape and April Mott's brutal murder, as well as other seriously incriminating data concerning ASH' improprieties as a public health facility to the offices of:
1) Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords,
2) Senator John McCain,
3) Congressman Raul Grijalva,
4) The Joint Commission,
5) US Department of Health & Human Services,
6) US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division,
7) Arizona Disability Law Center,
8) Irene Mesina (editor) of the Tucson Weekly newspaper.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011: One business day following the submission of the aforementioned grievance document, RE: ADHS/DBHS Docket #H120511S0012 (at this time, pending assignment and scheduling for OAH judicial review):
In a the company of a Palo Verde unit nurse (Dwyer) and my assigned social worker (Mitscher), my primary attending physician (Ahkter) delivers a letter to me that was drafted and signed by ASH chief executive officer (Nelson) and ASH chief medical officer (Dingle), advising me of an unexplained transfer from the most peaceful unit at ASH to the most violent one, and;
1) informs me that he had nothing to do with it;
2) cannot offer any explanation at all for the proposed transfer, following which;
3) I file a grievance with the ASH ombudsperson (Serna) concerning my disagreement with the proposed transfer, and later;
4) I speak in person with Dana Flannery of the Arizona Department of Health Office of Human Rights about the proposed transfer, as well as about Jesus Rincon Murietta and April Mott's brutal murder, and she says "Oh, my god!"
Wednesday, September 07, 2011:
I meet in person for the first time with AZ Republic newspaper reporter JJ Hensley in order to discuss the Jesus Rincon Murietta-April Mott murder, as well as details relating to the recent patterns of retaliation that I was being to subjected to at that time.
Thursday, September 08, 2011:
Following 48 hours of distraction from the matter, I give in to the pressure to accept being transferred to a new unit, despite my strong feelings about the impropriety of the action and the possibility that I will be at great risk of harm from patients who perceive me as a "snitch", I am transferred from the most peaceful unit at ASH, Palo Verde east, to the most violent one, Desert Sage East, and;
1) I meet my new roommates on Desert Sage East, one of whom is Joe Saucedo Gallegos, who is a very active illicit substances dealer and loan shark of sorts, and;
2) I later learn that Joe Saucedo Gallegos is also a patient of my previous primary attending physician, Dr. Pervaiz Akhter, who- in complicity with Chief Medical officer, Dr. Steven Dingle, and ASH CEO Cory "crazycorycorner.weebly.com" Nelson- transferred me from the most peaceful unit at ASH to Desert Sage East as matter of retaliating against me because I had filed filed complaints against him.
September 28, 2011:
The AZ Republic newspaper publishes a front page story written by JJ Hensley that takes up 3.5 full pages of copy about the Jesus Rincon Murietta's escape from ASH, ASH' subsequent attempts to cover the news of the escape up, and April Mott's brutal murder, etc., in this article:
Phoenix victim's family questions why man was free: Mental hospital halted search; escapee now a murder suspect. by JJ Hensley Sept. 28, 2011 The Arizona Republic.
Later the same day, the law firm of Goldberg & Osborne publishes a news brief relating to the Jesus Rincon Murietta-April Mott murder. as follows:
September 28, 2011
Friday, October 02, 2011:
At 7:30 p.m., clearly unstable new-hire charge nurse (Tracy) incites patient anger towards me after I inform her that I am not interested in any of the cake that she is offering patients on Desert Sage East, at which time:
1) I am physically assaulted by a regularly violent patient named Melissa A., and;
2) very graphically threatened with physical harm by several other patients, including a man named James M., following which the charge nurse (Tracy) calls in a critical incident security response on me, after which;
3) security responds and has to break up a couple of fights between numerous other patients that have erupted in relation to the whole charade and which I have nothing to do with, and;
4) as things cool down, one of the friendlier security guards asks me "Why in the hell did that charge nurse call us in on you?", leading me to;
5) request to speak with the on-call physician in order to make clear that I am at risk, and learn that the on-call physician is none other than my first primary attending doctor (Patel), and that he is unwilling to came and talk to me or otherwise attend to these matters at this time (although he does instruct Desert Sage East staff to fully restrict me to STI status if I so desire).
October 03, 2011-November 01, 2011:
As the new patient on Desert Sage east unit, I am repeatedly threatened with physical harm by other patients, including Joe Saucedo Gallegos on at least three occasions or otherwise frightened for my life and general well being, leading me to file a handful of strongly worded grievance reports concerning my safety to the office manager at the Arizona Department of Health Services Office of Grievances and Appeals, Kara Burke, and anybody else I could think of.
October 04, 2011:
I directly witness and report two staff members (Jeff, Izzy) after they face slam an animated but entirely non-violent patient named Andrew B. into a metal door while dragging him by his arms out of the Desert Sage East day room.
November 08, 2011:
While mildly debating the validity of a new ASH staff dress code at the counter of the nurse's station on Desert Sage East Unit with a staff technician named Izzy, I am viciously assaulted from behind with a metal and plastic chair by a regularly violent patient (Melissa A.) who has already physically assaulted me on the Desert Sage East unit on several documented occasions, after which;
1) I ask for Desert Sage East nursing to look at my injured left eye and cheek;
2) I request staff to grant me access to the police so that I can file a report;
3) I meet with my newest primary attending physician (Dy) because I want her input on the idea of filing a police report against a fellow mentally ill patient, and then;
4) learn that the regularly violent patient (Melissa A.) went on to attack another patient, who has already filed a report with police, leading me to;
5) hold off for the time being on the idea of filing my own report against the regularly violent patient (Melissa A.) in order to see what develops, because she is taken into custody by the cops at the end of the day.
November 24, 2011:
The patient who attacked and struck me in the head and face with the chair (Melissa A.) is released from jail following her November 08, 2011 arrest (see above) and returned to Desert Sage East unit, where she immediately engages in threatening me and other patients with lethal harm. leading me to again contact the Arizona Department of Health Services Office of Grievances and Appeals (Kara Burke).
November 20, 2011
My third primary attending ASH psychiatrist, Dr. Lynn Lydon, informs me in 1:1 consultation that she is not a "big fan" of rules.
November 26, 2011:
I file a police report against the patient who attacked and struck me in the head and face me with the chair (Melissa A., police report # 201102056258)
1) The patient who attacked and struck me in the head and and face is taken into custody by police and taken to jail.
December 02, 2011:
I receive a letter from ASH Chief Operating Officer (Noriega) that insultingly mischaracterizes my having been struck in the face and head with a chair as though it something that might happen in a checkout line at the local grocery.
December 05, 2011:
My fourth primary attending ASH physician, (Dr. Sylvia Dy), in the company of a nurse (Snow) and my assigned social worker (Washington) advise me that ASH chief medical officer (Dingle) is willing to remove me from the civil side of the hospital and transfer me to ASH "CRU" unit (where criminally charged mentally ill patients are housed and security is very high), allegedly because he is my concerned about safety. This, the full extent of his willingness to do something about the substandard conditions and associated dangers caused by administrative indifference in the context.
December 06, 2011
I inquire as to whether I will still be able to engage in participating in the daily therapy activities offered on the civil side of ASH if I agree to be transferred to CRU, and my request for this information is flatly denied.December 07, 2011:
I experience an unscheduled from the deputy chief medical officer at ASH (Breslow), who I have never heard of, and he asks me what I think the "problem is" at ASH, to which I respond "I suppose you get what you pay for" and in closing, he tells me to call him anytime, and later on;
1) at dinner, a patient named Joe Saucedo Gallegos physically contacts and threatens my life, but the on-hand Desert Sage East nurse (Pam) ignores and later denies the incident, despite it being witnessed by a technician (Shay).
December 15-31, 2011
I receive two identical form letters from the Arizona department of Health Services Office of Grievances and Appeals advising me that my appeals of both ADHS/DBHS grieveance document grievance document #H090611S0009 (see May 25, 2011) and ADHS/DBHS OGA Docket #B090811S0036 (see July 08, 2011) have been rejected for OAH judicial review.
January 15, 2012:
I draft and mail a formal letter of dissent over the rejection of my two appeals (above) to the Arizona Department of Health Services Director, Will Humble.
January 17, 2012:
I draft and mail two letters specific to my dissent over the rejection of my two appeals (see above) to Arizona Department of Health Services Office of Appeals and Grievances.
January 22, 2012
I am again threatened with physical harm by two other male patients (James M., Joe Saucedo Gallegos) at dinner, and two on hand staff members, including a charge nurse (Pam) refuse to intervene, following which;
1) one of the male patients who threatened me at dinner (James M.) follows me from dinner to a secluded area on the patient mall and verbally and physically assaults me;
2) I report the attack to a security guard (Blanca) who shortly thereafter confirms via video my accounting of the event;
3) I verify this again later in the evening with the charge nurse on Desert Sage East (Robert), and yet;
4) the following morning, I am denied access to my normal daily therapeutic activities and fully restricted to the Desert Sage East unit by the charge nurse because she "still isn't sure what happened last night... but you attacked James, didn't you?," after which;
5) I file a formal report with the police (complaint #2129002910)
January 25, 2012:
I receive two identical form letters from the Arizona Department of Health Services reversing their earlier decision to deny OAH judicial review of ADHS/DBHS grieveance document grievance document #H090611S0009 and ADHS/DBHS grievance document #B090811S0036/OAH Case #2011-BHS-0263-DHS and advising me that I will later be informed of the scheduling of eash OAH hearing.
January 10, 2011:
In an impromptu and unlawfully convened ITDP conference attended by my primary attending physician, (Sylvia Dy), my assigned social worker (Robert Washington), and a social services administrator (Heffern), I am;
1) denied the opportunity to invite a patient advocate/personal representative of my choosing to attend on my behalf;
2) advised that I will be discharged from ASH into potential homelessness in 10 days (for the second time), regardless of whether or not my various aftercare logistics are in order.
February 12, 2012:
I submit a lawful written request for my own medical records (not including psycho-therapy notes) to my assigned social worker (Washington) specific to my treatment history at ASH, but my lawful request is flatly denied with no explanation by ASH administrators.
February 20, 2012
I discharge from the Arizona State Hospital and relocate to Flagstaff, AZ, where I enter a short term dual diagnosis (alcoholism, mental health) treatment facility.
A man was told he will spend the rest of his life in jail for brutally beating two young boys to death with a baseball bat. By James Nye, Arizona Republic, March 7, 2012.
"Joe Sauceda Gallegos, 39, was sentenced yesterday at Maricopa County Superior Court after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder - and avoiding the death penalty."
Senseless: Thirty-nine-year old Joe Sauceda Gallegos was sentenced to two life terms for the murder of two young boys with a baseball bat in Phoenix in 2008.
In Closing, May 04, 2012:
That man's beady eyed stare still haunts me at times, but the fact remains, Joe Suacedo Gallegos is a very, very mentally ill man, and even he was denied the level of mental health care that he needed while he was at ASH. I have no idea how things might look today in terms of the state of serious mental illness in Arizona were the criminal activities at ASH not so brazenly allowed to go on inthe way that they do, but it is starkly clear to me that the problems at ASH are with the staff, and not with the patients. The conditions at ASH are a graphic example of the deeply systemic shortcomings in the state behavioral/mental health care system, in general. I attest to this with all of my heart.
Today is the two year anniversary of my initial May 04, 2010, admission to the psyche ward at University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson (formerly Kino-UPH Hospital), following which I did, in time, wind up at The Arizona State Hospital on February 20, 2011.
Yep. I still wish the Rat Bastard that stole my medications on my first day at ASH had gotten his or her due. What a freaking mess that place is, one example of professional ineptitude after another, all at the expense of the people they are supposed to serve. The things I witnessed and experienced first hand at the Arizona State Hospital are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the extent of abuse and wrongdoing that occurs there on a daily basis. It is even today, close to three months after my discharge from ASH, difficult for me to wrap my mind around how atrociously depraved the clinicians, administrators, and related state representatives in the department of heath are.
The abuse of mentally ill persons at the Arizona State Hospital is inhumane, it is criminal, and it needs to stop now.
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paoloreed@gmail.com
In Closing, May 04, 2012:
That man's beady eyed stare still haunts me at times, but the fact remains, Joe Suacedo Gallegos is a very, very mentally ill man, and even he was denied the level of mental health care that he needed while he was at ASH. I have no idea how things might look today in terms of the state of serious mental illness in Arizona were the criminal activities at ASH not so brazenly allowed to go on inthe way that they do, but it is starkly clear to me that the problems at ASH are with the staff, and not with the patients. The conditions at ASH are a graphic example of the deeply systemic shortcomings in the state behavioral/mental health care system, in general. I attest to this with all of my heart.
Today is the two year anniversary of my initial May 04, 2010, admission to the psyche ward at University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson (formerly Kino-UPH Hospital), following which I did, in time, wind up at The Arizona State Hospital on February 20, 2011.
Yep. I still wish the Rat Bastard that stole my medications on my first day at ASH had gotten his or her due. What a freaking mess that place is, one example of professional ineptitude after another, all at the expense of the people they are supposed to serve. The things I witnessed and experienced first hand at the Arizona State Hospital are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the extent of abuse and wrongdoing that occurs there on a daily basis. It is even today, close to three months after my discharge from ASH, difficult for me to wrap my mind around how atrociously depraved the clinicians, administrators, and related state representatives in the department of heath are.
The abuse of mentally ill persons at the Arizona State Hospital is inhumane, it is criminal, and it needs to stop now.
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(Update 2016: As stated at the outset of this 2012 article, I was easily able to document a wide range of very disturbing features to how poorly ASH has been run in recent years, and the associated complicity of ASH staff at all levels of employ in furthering the issue as a matter of standard practice. Which, of course, I later learned the hard way was also being condoned by officials in ADHS, the AZ Office of the Attorney General, and so on. Abject corruption that most definitely lands most squarely on the heads and shoulders of ASH's highly vulnerable patient-consumers. So let's get to it, Dr. Aaron Bowen and Dr. Cara Christ. The clock doesn't tick, it reverberates, spurning my willingness to continue holding all/any currently inept responses to the ongoing problems in Arizona's sole long term public mental health facility. Do rthe right thing while you can, in other words, lest you become named characters in my upcoming book.)
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.