Of Lisa Wynn. Current Executive Quality Control Officer at Arizona State Hospital.

Lisa Wynn. Who was summarily fired in 2013 from her position as the Executive Director of the Arizona Board of Medical Examiners on the basis of allegations that she violated a number of state laws during her tenure in that position. Including but not limited to licensing unqualified applicants to the medical profession, 100% consistent with the criminal nature of former ASH executive Donna Noriaga (see below).

Lisa Wynn. Following which, she was appointed into the third ranking level of authority at Arizona's sole long term public mental health care facility.

Lynn Wynn. It's that bad.

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    "We have seen incredible improvements at the state hospital under Dr. Bowen’s and Dr. Dingle’s leadership and are tremendously proud of our entire team and their recovery oriented approach to patient care."

Arizona Department of Health Services. 

Dr. Cara Christ, Director. December, 2017.

      "Lisa Wynn, the executive director of the Arizona medical Board, is currently under investigation by our committee for unethical and egregious behavior. There have been many alleged complaints specifically against her. She clearly is trying to hide under the Guise of the medical Board, but her actions of deceit are her own. She has acted with bias and dishonesty on Board matters where she has no education to support her stance."

Arizona Medical Board (2013)

“Adios you crooked public safety hazard and good riddance." Public comment concerning Lisa Wynn’s being fired from the AZ Board of Medical Examiners (complaintsbaord.com)

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Incredible. Not only did the state continue to employ yet another clearly inept as hell official in this case, they went so far as to employ her despite her being front page news on more then one occasion due to her identified dishonest nature. There are are so many questionable issues in ASH’s current executive quality control officer’s very real history that it simply blows my mind, a history that is readily available on the web, glaring out the crappy nature of her character.                        

A long time employee of Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS, Department), Lisa Wynn has been central to a variety of very disturbing controversies dating back for more then ten years, including but far from limited to her being axed from the state of Arizona's Board of Medical Examiners in 2013 (the same organization that failed to reasonably discipline Dr. Steven Dingle for his sexually abusing women working under his authority at a private Phoenix hospital). It is apparent that so long as these sorts of people have no immediate conflict with the Department itself, Dr. Cara Christ sees no cause to limit their employment opportunities at Arizona State Hospital (ASH, Hospital). This was true, as well, when Christ's predecessor, Will “Yea, team!" Humble ran the show, hiring as he did persons such as Cory Nelson and Roger James Forney .

And while we are on it, there was a pretty strong rumor circulating at ASH during the termination period of Nelson in 2015, that he had an affair with another staff member, a younger woman. Rumors being rumors, there is no point in dwelling too much on that, but I can attest to observing him flirting rather obviously with female patients, namely my friend ————, who is attractive, young, and very vulnerable to such flirtation due to an aspect of her given psychological diagnosis.

And so far as I know, it may have been Ruby who was involved in the details of an ABC Ch15/KNVX story published in 2015, not long at all after Nelson and at least five other individuals were summarily fired due to their identified corruption. The story itself has a direct association with sexual misconduct, the role of ASH staff in disregarding such issues, and related civil rights. See: " Arizona state mental hospital patients engage in dangerous sexual activity." David Biscobing. ABC Ch15 June 5, 2015; and note along with all the other dirt exposed therein, this statement:

"The incident highlights the Arizona State Hospital's repeated failure to protect our state's most vulnerable adults."

While we are not yet certain when Lisa Wynn was granted an executive position at ASH, it is clear that this hiring occurred during sexual predator Dr. Steven Dingle's so called "leadership", if not in fact since Dr. Aaron Bowen was appointed as the Hospital's CEO. And as with the hiring of numerous other wrongdoers at ASH, it inevitably raises the question of why in the hell was she hired at all, and/or why did the Department continue to employ her after these arose?

We have tried to make clear in prior articles that the principal stakeholders in terms of the quality of care at ASH are the client-consumer-patients, all of whom deserve reasonably optimum treatment there, as per the public trust. Clearly, this trust has been breached time and time again, and in this specific matter, is wholly representative of the same issues exposed circa 2010-2015, in this blog, and elsewhere. A distinct showing of the graphic disconnect between the welfare and interests of the patient community at ASH and those upon whom they depend, be it Hospital psychiatrists and administrators, or officials in ADHS. Such disconnect is tantamount to that between the greater public and persons affected by serious mental illness, but one would feel same in assuming that this is not something we'd find in a hospital of any kind.

As stated, the appointment of the current executive quality control officer at Arizona State Hospital is yet one more bright line example of an individual allowed to work at ASH despite leaving a past position in a literal cloud of scandal. Just like former since-fired ASH chief executive officer, Cory Nelson, who was hired to that position by the Arizona Department of Health Services after identified as having been involved in a serious abuse of fiscal standards in the state of South Dakota (See: HSC Pay Raise Sparks Questions." Nathan Johnson. July 7, 2010. Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan; "Nelson One Of Two Officials Tied To Allegations." Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. June 11, 2015.) Consistent, as well, with the sordid  history of another former since-fired ASH CEO, Donna Noriega, who was found in May, 2012, as being guilty of fraudulent conveyance of employee qualifications (see in this publication: "RE: Donna Noriega. Busted!" October 01, 2014; RE: Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners. Case #2012-0047), only to be later promoted to ASH's chief executive officer from her prior position at that time as the Hospital's executive quality control officer. This is, of course, the same position that Lisa Wynn now occupies, and wouldn’t you know it, is the same specific reason for why Wynn was kicked off the Board of Medical Examiners- lying about the qualifications of applicants.

Without  again detailing the issue of Roger James Forney, a convicted sexual predator who ADHS hired and placed into the position of security guard at ASH following that conviction, only to be prosecuted and convicted a second time on the same charge  after working at ASH for over 15 months (and who is now serving time in prison on that basis), this  pattern of employing individuals who have criminal or other like records is an overtly standard practice of ADHS, which has again and again granted such individuals positions at ASH. Where they presume that the client-consumer-patients have no voice, due in part to their given disability, but as much so due to the dismally shortsighted character of at least some staff at ASH. This nature of belief is discriminatory, and differs little from the far longer history of prejudice against disabled people.  It's shocking to the core, but really no surprise given the history of this specific facility over the last 10 years, as discussed in this publication's extensive articles, and not to mention the history of public mental institutions in general.

This nature of disregard for such issues extends to the willingness of ADHS to defend wrongdoers, as personified by the formal response to the fact that Arizona citizens are paying attention to the history of the Hospital's chief medical officer, Dr. Steven Dingle. This response only clarifies why the pattern of employing wrongdoers is continuing despite the history specific to individuals such as Forney, Nelson, Noriega, and any number of other such persons working for the Department at this time. As follows:

   "The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) is committed to providing a therapeutic environment while protecting the rights of our patients and staff. ADHS does not tolerate harassment towards any person and has a responsibility to defend the integrity of our staff when they are subjected to personal attacks. Dr. Aaron Bowen, Arizona State Hospital (ASH) Chief Executive Officer, did not prevent anyone from sharing comments or concerns during the Human Rights Committee (HRC) meeting. Dr. Bowen briefly intervened during the public comment phase to address highly defamatory statements about an incident that has been public record for 22 years. ADHS highly values patient feedback and takes patient concerns seriously. These defamatory statements were not based on any current complaints or allegations. 

    Dr. Steven Dingle is a statewide expert in behavioral health and provides exemplary care to patients at ASH. He has not had any complaints or allegations of sexual misconduct or harassment and there have been no personnel actions while working for ADHS over the past 16 years. We have seen incredible improvements at the state hospital under Dr. Bowen’s and Dr. Dingle’s leadership and are tremendously proud of our entire team and their recovery oriented approach to patient care."

                                                                                                                                                                  Arizona Department of Health Services. Dr. Cara Christ, Director.

"Dr. Bowen's and Dr. Dingle's leadership....: Man, is that rich. Dingle was present and working as the chief medical officer during that period of time when racially wrongful issues were occurring circa 2010-2015, if not longer. As such, under his so called leadership, hospital administrators (of which he is one, in fact) furthered a wide range of grossly unlawful care practices, which in no less then three cases led to the preventable deaths of both patients, and citizen members of the greater public. This is documented fact, and has been published in this blog since 2012.

Beyond being an admitted attempt to defend the history of this doctor, the  intent of this official statement to  justify ADHS' having continually employed Dr. Steven Dingle over the last sixteen years on the basis of the claim that there have been no complaints or allegations of sexual misconduct or harassment makes little sense. This is especially true when one looks at other known sexual predators currently in the news today, be it with respect for the Catholic church, Judge Roy Moore, Senator Al Franken, and so on. It is the very real fact that prior misconduct in this context is of such significance to the rights of women, children, and other vulnerable Americans who are subject to such abuse; and the given fact that such history represents outright depravity deserving of  nothing less then reasonable accountability. I contend that the sole reason for why Dingle got away with little more then a slap of the wrist stems from his being a licensed physician, and the fact that such professionals rarely experience legitimate discipline when peers members of such professions are the ones assigned to apply related oversight. 

There is also ample evidence to the effect that issues such as sexual abuse occurring within the confines of ASH are not being reported by ASH administrators, in patent defiance of law and policy. This is due in large part to the fact that Hospital administrators have imposed threats of retaliation to staff and patients alike should such persons express concerns or otherwise report such issues, in violation of state and federal law prohibiting such retaliation.

During my time at ASH, as I struggled to recover from the degree of crisis I was in upon my January 11, 2011, admission, including reviving my interest in my environment (and sense of civic duty) by reporting issues that I recognized as unlawful or otherwise detrimental to the welfare of myself and my patient-peers, more then one staff person who agreed with my concerns expressed very real fear for their job security when I would encourage them to contact media about such issues. This occurred despite my informing such staff of their federal protections under the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. This is the degree to which ASH administrators abuse the rights of and frighten their employees in this context. 100%, utterly in violation of law and policy.

As importantly, the identified willingness of Department officials to suppress such expressions also directly contributes to why various events and incidents occurring at ASH never acquire public awareness. This is personified by the fact that following the involved patient's statement during the November 16, 2017, meeting of HRC (which is to, as per statute [ARS $$ 410-3803 and 3804], function independent of any state employee's influence),  an attorney for the state attempted to remove aspects of the record specific to the patient's statement. Evidence of this attempt exists in the form of  emails sent to HRC members following the above attempt, which attempt to compel HRC to remove that aspect of the minutes in order to avoid attention to this specific controversy. Ergo, I intend to file a complaint with the Arizona Bar Association about whoever in the Department's legal office engaged in this attempt, on behalf of the rights of the patient, as they stand. 

It certainly won't be the first time a Department employed attorney engaged in such misconduct, given the role of former-now fired ADHS lawyers Jennifer Alewelt and Jeff Bloomberg, both of whom went down with the ship circa spring 2015, along with Nelson, Noreiga, and a host of other like like villains. 

           

It is equally disturbing that this justification also claims that Christ has "seen incredible improvements at the state hospital under  Dr. Bowen's and Dr. Dingle's alleged “leadership". This, given that the current executive quality control officer, Lisa Wynn, was hired to work at ASH following Donna Noriega's  tenure in that specific position prior to being fired on the basis of her given dishonesty and abject failure to live up to the public trust by which she was employed.    

Why would the one's directly responsible for ensuring that the operation of ASH functions in a manner consistent with established medical standards, law and policy, go about hiring individuals who have records as shocking as the employees who were involved in the 2015 scandal? A scandal that a number of mental health advocates have characterized in recent years as "The ugliest public mental health care facility in the new millennium.”

I'll tell why. It has everything to do with abject absence of character and ethos, and the willingness to disregard the interests and care needs of Arizona citizens disabled by serious mental illness, in favor of preserving their own interests. Therein, essentially abusing the rights of the patient community, all of whom have been involuntary committed in a court of law to receive optimum medical care at ASH; persons highly vulnerable to abuse and negligence, who historically have been subjected to such mistreatment, by which the provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act and other such standards of law have been enacted in order to diminish these issues.

In breaching the public trust by which every one of these individuals are employed, we are again witnessing what may well lead yet again to federal inspections and related sanction due to the fact that ASH is not meeting the standards by which the Hospital is licensed.

Along these lines- the possible need for further federal oversight and due accountability- it is of note that in the last meeting of the Hospital’s Human Rights Committee, Decmeber 21, 2017, another current patient named raised the issue of “inadequate staffing” on the basis of assaults- including a very recent stabbing- that only prevailed due to there not being enough staff on shift to fully keep an eye on all aspects of unit activity. This issue, violations of federally mandated staff to patient quotients, is precisely what got ASH got into trouble for circa 2013-14, in part at least.   

(On a related note, the Montana State Hospital was similarly sanctioned for this issue by the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services in January, 2017, a disciplinary action that the facility has yet to remedy (that hospital is still under sanction). As such, the issue of adequate staffing and does directly compromise both the safety of patients and staff alike. But only administrative staff, who have no threat in context because they basically occupy office settings removed from any patient setting, are responsible for the issue, which basically highlights why such facilities need to have sincerely ethical individuals in executive positions.)

Which leads us back to the known history of Lisa Wynn, the current executive quality control officer at ASH. It took no more then one simple Google search in her name for our staff to realize how dirty this woman’s background is, in fact, circa 2004-the present. We encourage readers to do the same.

The following information was drawn from several online web sites, each of which are included below.

1) This, from complaintsboard.com ("The most trusted and popular complaints web site".) The first passage is a formal posting to the 

site itself, dated October 23, 2017, by the Arizona Board of Medical Examiners itself;  while the following are several comments to that posting. 

“Public danger.” Posted by the Arizona Medical Board. Phoenix, AZ.

POSTING: "Lisa Wynn the executive director of the Arizona medical Board is currently under investigation by our committee or unethical and egregious behavior. There have been many alleged complaints specifically against her. She clearly is trying to hide under the Guise of the medical Board, but her actions of deceit are her own. She has acted with bias and dishonesty on Board matters where she has no education to support her stance."

COMMENTS:

2010: "Lisa Wynn is clearly an addict. She needs to go to rehabilitation and clean up her act. That is still no excuse for her irrational behavior and will need to face the proper consequences."

2010: "Hilarious. I have seen this woman in person, and she is totally unimpressive and interesting.”

2013: "She will now rot in hell literally as Phoenix is an oven anyhow. It is nice to see justice being played out, and Lisa Wynn got what she deserved. Better late than never. Adios you crooked public safety hazard and good riddance."

2014: "Lisa Wynn was terminated from the AZ Medical Board as she was incompetent, evil, and eventually got caught. She deserves everything she gets and has ruined many lives in AZ and is a danger to the public and needs to be put away."

2) This, from a 2014 article in Arizona's largest newspaper, The Arizona Republic.

“Arizona denies legal claim by ex-medical board director.” Yvonne Wingett Sanchez. The Arizona Republic Published 10:52 a.m. MT May 1, 2014 

“State officials have denied a request by the former executive director of the Arizona Medical Board to pay her attorney's fees and compensate her for the fallout from a report critical of her practices. Lisa Wynn was fired in October by the board that regulates and licenses physicians in Arizona. Her termination came days after release of a lengthy ombudsman report that found she and the board's former deputy director improperly reviewed doctors' education, work history and disciplinary actions, among other things.”

3) This, from a 2013 story aired by ABC Ch15/KNVX news, Phoenix, AZ.

“Lisa Wynn, Executive Director of the Arizona Medical Board, fired at meeting.” Joe Ducey. ABC Ch15. Oct 12, 2013.

PHOENIX - There's been a major shakeup involving the board that protects us against bad doctors. The Executive Director of the Arizona Medical Board was fired after a lengthy investigation claiming she broke more than a dozen state laws.

4) And this from the area's CBS news affiliate, KPHO, also aired in 2013.

“AZ Medical Board fires executive director.” Associated Press. CBS Ch13/KPHO. October 26, 2013.

“Lisa Wynn, the chief regulator in Arizona medical practice since 2008, was fired on Saturday evening. The Arizona Medical Board voted 5-4 to fire her.

Wynn, who officially served as the executive director for the Arizona Medical Board, took the brunt of the blame in a state report investigating possible shortcuts the board took to issue medical licenses. The report, released on Wednesday by the Arizona Ombudsman-Citizens' Aide, found the state medical board's staff violated rules and statutes while awarding licenses and renewals to thousands of Arizona physicians.

According to the report, some of the key information Wynn and her staffed failed to properly address included doctors' education and illegal dispensations of prescription drugs. The ombudsman's report also alleged that Wynn's staff purposely violate state laws in order to speed up the licensing process. The discoveries outlined in the 192-page investigation could mean thousands of physicians currently practicing medicine in Arizona are unqualified.”

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That bad, could not make it up if I had to. Continual hiring and employment of the arguably worst people in the business. People who very likely cannot secure employment anywhere else. Verifying the fact that state operated mental hospitals even today attract persons with abjectly depraved character, with full support of state agencies, offering as such safe haven where such individuals can carry on with little to no fear of oversight or accountability. To the direct detriment of the highly vulnerable to abuse and negligence persons forced to receive "treatment" in such places.  

You might think we are still somewhere in the 18th century.

Or a third world country.

But we are not. 

It is 2017. This is America. 

The staff of PJ Reed The Arizona state Hospital and Patient Abuse is willing to share the suspicion that it was Aaron Bowen himself who hired a woman identified as being involved in unlawfully licensing unqualified applicants to the medical profession.  And it is our heightened belief that even Bowen is arguably unqualified as the CEO at ASH (no stretch of the imagination- Cory Nelson had no such qualifications, and yet….). We are working to clarify when, how, and why Lisa Wynn was granted an executive  position at Arizona's sole long term public mental health care facility, and will happily publish all such information as soon as we have it in our possession. 

IN CLOSING: We  will revisit these issues within 24 hours. In the meantime, let it be known that Arizona State Hospital is on the verge of again becoming a nationalized scandal specific to ongoing abuses of the rights and welfare of persons affected by mental illness in the public health care system. 

paoloreed@gmail.com