Evidence to the effect of Montana State Hospital's inability to get their shit together. Just like Arizona State Hospital. Literally.

INTRODUCTION. In late 2013, and again in 2014, the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) completed several lengthy and in-depth investigations of the Arizona State Hospital (ASH), Phoenix, AZ. The subsequent CMS report(s) determined that ASH was operating in violation of a wide range of federally mandated regulations by which ASH is licensed to operate, including the facility's failure to maintain required patient to staff quotients (ratio). Consequently, CMS issued a "Notice of Jeopardy" wherein ASH's license to operate was at risk of being terminated. As per standard protocol, CMS granted the Hospital to get it's shit together within and allotted time period. At the conclusion of that time period, in early 2014 CMS determined that this had not occurred, leading to more direct federal oversight that did lead to the summary firing of no less then seven individuals directly directly associated with the operation of ASH, including the Hospital's CEO, the Department of Health/Behavioral Health Services' Deputy Director, one state employed attorney, and several lower ranking staff at ASH itself.   

In recent articles, the staff of PJ Reed The Arizona State Hospital and Patient Abuse and Montana State Hospital. Montana's Forgotten Suicides have described the fact that in fall 2016, CMS was notified that the Montana State Hospital (MSH) was failing to maintain required patient to staff quotients (ratio). Just like ASH in 2013-14. And just like ASH, MSH is still today failing to get its shit together. 

Below are several mainstream press articles specific to MSH history in context, circa January 2017 to the present. 

It should be noted that reporter Holly Nichols interviewed me at MSH in December, 2017, and again in late January, 2017, following which she published the first of a series of articles about these issues. While in 2013, an investigative reporter named David Biscobing of the Phoenix area ABC news affiliate, KNVX/Ch15, contacted me through this blog publication with a request to collaborate in order for him to initiate his own formal investigation of ASH. 

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State Psychiatric Hospital Changes Policies After Lockdown

Associated Press. May 31, 2018.

The Montana State Hospital has changed some policies and plans to increase staffing and improve training after a unit of the psychiatric hospital was locked down in November due to a lack of staffing and two patients were unnecessarily held in seclusion.

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Warm Springs Assaults blamed on chronic, 

pervasive staff shortages. 

HOLLY NICHOLS. Lee Newspapers. March 08, 2017

A recently recently released federal inspection details why the Montana State Hospital at Warm Springs, which is home to civilly and criminally committed patients with mental illness, was at risk of losing its federal certification for twelve days in January. Documents from the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which certifies parts of the hospital, say "chronic, pervasive staff shortages" led to the attacks. 

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Feds find state hospital put patients at risk,
almost terminated agreement.

HOLLY NICHOLS. Lee Newspapers January 27, 2017.

HELENA – Montana State Hospital, the state’s publicly run psychiatric facility, was set to lose its federal agreement in February because of what’s called an “immediate jeopardy,” a situation where the hospital’s noncompliance with federal regulations was considered serious enough to risk death or serious injury to a resident.

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IN CLOSING: Collaboration between mainstream and independently produced media is an increasingly common feature to investigative journalism today. The advent of the internet, the emergence of blog formats (including blogspot.com), and the realization that independent investigations of issues critical to the public interest are useful to mainstream media outlets, are granting the public a much firmer understanding of exactly what goes on in shadowed corners that, for the most part, have historically been out of sight, out of mind. This most definitely applies to state managed mental hospitals such as ASH and MSH.

On countless occasions in the history of this publication, I have stated that it was never my intent to become a central source of information about the realities in state hospitals. This is still the case. When I showed up at MSH in spring, 2015, I had no predisposition to the effect that I would run into the same degree of shortsightedness that ASH is so well known for (and that's putting it nicely). Likewise, I had no desire to fall into the same level of dedication about the affairs of the MSH patient community that I was compelled to engage in on behalf of my former patient-peers at ASH.

But there you go, right? Different meadow, same cow pies. 

paoloreed@gmail.com