Oh boy! Oh boy! Something to blog about! (It's been more and more difficult to come up with topics since I've changed jobs and gotten so relatively contented...speaks to the efficacy of keeping me busy.)
But this week we've got Marva being threatened with contempt of court!! And just today, we have "Emergency funds are being withheld from the Pueblo state mental hospital because officials there have ignored repeated requests for information..." ( "Emergency funds held back", Rocky Mountain News, 12/9/06)
Now I ask you, does this ring a bell???
Ignoring repeated requests for information is the motto of the Department of Human Services as enacted by our very own favorite leader! I wonder if Keith learned it from Marva, or is it just that the two personalities are very sympatico...and that's why Marva's never fired him, in spite of the multitude of reasons to do so!
So now Colorado follows Florida (see my Give Thanks" blog) in having the judicial branch step in to right the egregious wrongs of the Republican administration. I've got a whole rave I could give you about society's obligation to its disabled members...what it says about a society that refuses to take care of its own; how it demonstrates a clear deficit of "civilized" behavior that can lead to no good, in my view. In fact, I've probably already raved that somewhere in this blog. I'll spare you that today. And I AM relieved to see a backlash in America these days; thank heavens there still exists a sizeable number of people who prefer civilization to consumerism...and for the moment, they're in the majority.
However! I want to warn you all, that this potentially optimistic moment, may really be the first public steps in the waltz that leads to privitization. Please notice that in today's Rocky Mountain News article Rep. Bernie Buescher is quoted as saying, "Are there other private providers who can do these assessments?" I predict that the State will move to outsourcing the State Mental Health Institutes...they'll contract with Wackenhut, parent of the Geo group, in Florida (see "It's Private!") and for a fixed price, they'll be done with it.
And it'll have been Marva and Keith and their ilk who will have made it all possible...lousy management with lousy lobbying produces a problem-laden organization with no passionate advocates at the legislature. Instead of being the clear, convincing voice for the mentally ill, they have been the poster children for badly run government....who would want to give them more money? One suspects that it wouldn't help the mentally ill...it would be spent replacing and retraining underqualifed staff in crumbling facilities to do a worse and worse job.
Too harsh? What do you think?
I can hardly wait to see all the fingerpointing and blaming that are about to ensue.
Steve and Marva will blame the legislature who will blame Steve and Marva...Keith is too small a potato to be in this particular dog fight...but it's all the same problem, really. The State doesn't want to be in the Mental Health business...it's expensive, it's run by morons, it's one problem after another. So it doesn't fund it. Finally a judge points out that the whole mess is violating the rights of patients and brings the situtation to a head. The State's solution will be to bail out, privatize, outsource. The company that has the experience is Wackenhut. They do jails, too.
Suggested "Truth in Advertising" slogan for the Colorado Department of Human Services Comments on Last Post! (Incuding one from Poor Richard!)
11 comments:
Now instead of Team 1 and Team 3,it's cellblock 1 and cellblock 3, and instead of scrubs,patients will wear stripes........maybe an improvement,huh? Dont ya just love it when it is finally revealed at the higher eschalons and finally someone is going to notice after their backs are against the wall, and voila,millons of dollars are available and Oh,shocking........we are hireing staff.............Oh Holy Night..............
Since Florida is just ahead of us in this process, thought you might find this interesting. The link is to a published article down there, the paragraphs below, from someone commenting on that article...seems very on target for this discussion here is Colorado, too, so thought I'd publish it here!
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20061209&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=612090456&SectionCat=&Template=printart
How we are judged as a society is, at least in part, determined by how we treat our mentally ill citizens. Locking them away in jails is probably worse in some ways then letting them wander un-cared for through our communities, which is certainly unacceptable.
Certainly one option would be to provide them some psychiatric care in the jails themselves. Many of these men and women (a great preponderance of men are jailed for mental illness) could derive great benefit from being restarted on their psychiatric medications as soon as they are arrested. Yet they are allowed to languish for days, weeks, and months suffering in the county jails with no medications.
Psychiatrists in communities where they are jailed, who could be called upon pro-bono or by fee to treat the mentally ill residents, do nothing. Where is the outcry against them? Why is it that the state can't pay their fees, or require they do pro bono work like the judges require of lawyers?
These community psychiatrists could prescribe the medications needed to help stabilize these mentally ill individuals, easing the pain of their illnesses and possibly saving them from further mental deterioration. Yet the judges, and the psychiatrists in large part do nothing.
If a mentally ill person in a jail refuses medication they can be court ordered by a judge and given intramuscularly if needed. County judges can order medication for the mentally ill at a local hearing ... yet they don't. The jails say "The inmate refuses medication" and attempts to treat the prisoner stop, They wait for the patients to go to a state hospital, where they wait some more for court ordered or emergency treatment ordered medication. This could all be done locally before they ever go to the state hospitals...especially in rich communities, where psychiatrists are plentiful.
The patients could come to the hospital with a local order for medication from the local judge (there are lots of reasons that would be a smart idea) and with the patient on medication. [If the patient has been in the system before... that information should be used to decide what WORKED in the past and should be restarted.] That local court order would speed things up wonderfully, and might well reduce the time that the individual needed to be in the state hospital. Also an order should be done for the medication to continue when the patient returns to the county of origin to await trial at the county jail. Patients often deteriorate in that setting as well.
Also the counties should maintain the same medication that the state hospitals find works for the patient, instead of changing it to a cheaper medication that doesn't work.
Later in the community, the medications need to be made available to the patients who often go off them because they don't have the money to stay on, don't have a way to get to where the meds are.... lose things like prescriptions and medications or the addresses of their doctors etc. These are community failures and funding failures, not DCF failures.
Maybe you can see that this is a little more complex than Lucy Hadi being a "bad secretary, which is simply not the case. Luci is an incredibly capable woman was given a "Mission Impossible" and unlike Tom Cruise she cannot make a pigs ear into a silk purse. Could the there be a problem in the Bush? Why isn't anyone talking about the head guy? Don't you think the marching orders come from the top? Where did that 53 M go anyway? What is this about anyway? Just trash DCF some more? Do we want to do this job or not?
We should endeavor make the care of the mentally ill among us a priority.
Now for a word about our mental hospitals...
The conditions for staff in our mental hospitals are getting increasingly tough. Staff shortages are problematic, because of lack of funding for an adequate number of positions as well as the fact that low salaries offered make the job unattractive to skilled or appropriately trained or educated applicants. Lowing hiring standards due to a lack of qualified applicants reduces the quality of the treatment milieu... makes it less effective, and slows things down.
Treatment staff are often unable to take time off when they are ill, or get real vacations to rejuvenate. Some staff become cranky and cynical as a result, which makes things worse. "Burnout" of staff is a real problem.
The reduction in funding by Tallahassee plays a large negative role in the treatment of the mentally ill because in large measure the money comes out of the hides of the hospital treatment staff. It means that the buildings don't get fixed, Equipment gets old, but cannot be replaced. Therapeutic activities are reduced. Salaries amounts are archaic to the point of being insulting.
Morale declines because people feel unappreciated, and antagonisms between line staff and administration increase. Administration, being loyal to the chain of command, is seen as the nearest target for anger against Tallahassee, the governor and the legislature.
The entire process becomes cynical, as staff are spurred to produce greater and greater results with less and less... "fat" is long gone... this is about "meat and bone". Turnover is great, because burnout and disgust is high. Quality of staff spirals down as experienced staffing levels decline, which slows the process down even more.... People are getting hurt often because they are inexperienced.
Now a word about privatization.
There are good things about it, The private hospitals are the golden children of Tallahassee. They get to pick and choose their clients, appear to have lots of money, and don't disclose what funding they are receiving from their parent corporations...er... Wackenhut. They build new hospitals, and contract for services because they haven't any loyalty to staff that have served for years. What will happen down the road? Who knows... apples to oranges. Do I think the state should privatize these services... NO. No more than privatize police, or sub-contract the courts.That's a discussion for another day.
Well. I don't know if any of this interests you... but your piece inspired me. There's a lot of info in my reply. Most of it is simplified and generalized, but if you find it interesting then I will consider the writing to have been worthwhile.
When you go to the those in charge, and ask what incentive a company will give you upon graduation with a degree(like a pay raise) beyond transfer to another Department. Then are told you will not get nothing, zilch, nada. Its makes you have real loyal or really care for such a job "Not". I am one of those that will be leaving after the holidays and not sad, actually truelly excited. I have worked at some crappy hospitals in the past, but they all had something of interest where I would stay for at least a while. I must say that this place is so "ass backwards", that the state would be doing the community a service by shutting it down and starting over. Not staff, but if you are new here and have worked in this field would know what I am talking about. Privatizing has its good and bad points, but one thing for sure a lot of nonproducing "Dimwits" that have ruined this hospitals name and waisted our money would be definetly gone(Kethie),HMG aka: Hospital Mismanagment Group. I would stay just for that, I would like to see them run a private hospital the way they ran this place into the ground.
My question to the staff does the State take all the Dumb#ss middle & upper management that have been booted out of the private sector here? Is there a special box you check off on an employment application for certification as a nonproductive Dumba#s Adminstrator.
Do you get preference points if you are certified as a legitimate dumba#s for promotion?
My little time here I have learned to avoid this place like the plague. I have learned nothing here, "well thats a lie, my bitch#ng and moaning skills are pretty sharp now". Hey, HMG(and the lapdogs) your hospital sucks, you keep your employees fighting amongst themselves,your overpaid, while your employees are underpaid, you treat truelly psychotic patients as prisoners and warehouse others for so long that they will never function in the community. Shame on you, take a look in the mirror and thank yourself for this Behemoth, Archaic, waistful and worthless hospital you have created. Great job, I hope you donate part of your salary to your church, community or something out of guilt for being in a position of authority, importance without knowledge of how to make a hospital succesful and noticeable to the community in a positive way.
Sorry, had to rant feel better, but still leaving. They don't have to worry about pushing me out the door, I'm trying to break down the door to get hell out of here.
A weird little man who runs a hospital in weird little ways.
You guys need a Union or you will always be dealing with same crap if this is your career. If not strengthen your resume and run, run, run and don't look back or you might trip. Just like in the movies, then they got you and you'll never get away or as they call it Pera.
Sorry,
LOL
Sorry, about rant(but had to say it).
To those staying good luck, get a union, write some letters. Be proactive don't let private sector admin rejects destroy your hospital(your job).
I'm not vested, so my loyalty goes as far as the next job that pays me more.
Good luck everyone
Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
wow! who ever you are you said it...Congrats on moving on....
In response to Gadde's comments about Marva ignoring "repeated requests"...you obviously don't know the whole story, or maybe you do and are just reporting the part that helps support your rantings. As a line staff at the Fort, I usually agree with what you say, but this time you don't have all the info. Also, in response to your comment "that's why Marva never fired him", don't you know you can't fire anyone from here? All kinds of ignoramuses work here and the worst ones move up, up, up. Where does KL have to move up to? I am sure it is only a matter of time before something happens to change the way things run around here-whether it is privitization, or what, I don't know. I do know that the kind of ridiculous goings on at this hospital can't continue for much longer especially if there is anyone with half a brain in the state government.
I think that this is a pathetic excuse for a hospital (and I use the term "hospital" loosely). I have worked here since it was a great place to work and am also moving on in the near future.
Thanks for starting the blog. I have been reading it since day 1 and have never felt the need to post until today.
For those administrators, managers, and supervisors who are just as compelled to read this column as the average joe who works at the Fort - get a clue! It's been said before and is soo cliche, but "What goes around, comes around." Time is the variable here and most who need to see that parts of the system do work, will be long gone before they feel any validation or satisfaction. Misdoings happen here, there, and everywhere. But it is the average staff that are effected more so than others. And, need it be said, the patients. When policy and procedures limit low level interventions, and a "my way" attitude from the manangerial types trumps common sense, it is experienced by those who don't have offices to sit it, those who don't go out to lunch, and those who are there working the overtime. And need it be said, the patients! So the most elevated person in the Health and Human Services Dept. is leaving, and not under pristine circumstances. But as is commonplace there was probably a deal made, one that lessened the newsworthiness, but ignored the root of the problem. Sometimes I tease my spouse that I don't need to watch TV, because I watch Let's Make a Deal at the Madhouse, day in and day out. And of course this theory of mine does not apply to all, and if it doesn't apply to you, they I just hope you can stick it out to see some good things come around. Me, I can only wait a few more years, but have been lucky enough to feel some validation because I have been around a long time. So back to the initial focus, if you are in a position of authority at this hospital, do what's right, and just today. Value your line staff for the sake of your patients. How your unit appears, and the paperwork, all come way far down the line, in comparison to your staff and the patients. Keep in mind, like MH, you can always misplace or simply not turn over the papers, then retire in comfort and it becomes someone else's headache.
Have you heard? A legislator toured the madhouse this week. Did anyone see this person? Did anyone besides a favored few talk to this person? Did anyone even know this person was coming? Did anyone get a chance to make a difference?
Have you heard? The new first lady is coming to visit the madhouse. Anyone know when? Rumor has it she is consumer oriented. Would she really want to have someone she cares about admitted to the madhouse? How can we make her see that?
Have you heard? Attention has been focused back on the madhouses.
Anyone ready to do more than whine?
Anyone ready to make a statement?
We have been provided another opportunity! Will we squander it yet again?
Can you see it? Can you feel it?
SHINE THE LIGHT!
unnnnnhhhhhhhhh! grumble mumble
Have I really been asleep that long? Or was I just oblivious to the insidious inaction?
I once left you some options for positive action so I offer them again.
The first one is newfound opportunity......
info@rittertransition.org - I hear the new guv wants to hear from us. Enlighten him!
www.cdphe.state.co.us - inform the State Health Department of any and all healthcare concerns. Perhaps they will want/need to investigate.
www.jointcommission.org - inform the national accrediting organization that guides and evaluates our care of any and all healthcare concerns. Perhaps they will want/need to investigate.
www.cms.hhs.gov - Inform the federal agency that covers most of our client's healthcare costs of any and all healthcare concerns. Perhaps they will want/need to investigate.
And of course, there is always the press...
I remind you again that you have a choice...
Remain the helpless cowering victims of the shadow mongers that serve as Hospital, OBHH and CDHS management; or choose to unite and invoke your true power.
Seize this opportunity to faciltate positive change for those entrusted to your care and for you who truly labor within the oppressive darkness that remains the madhouse.
CAN YOU SEE IT? CAN YOU FEEL IT?
SHINE THE LIGHT!
Please someone help me tell me how to survive this place. I put 110 percent into it, and never even get a thank you....
I can't take it anymore, the negative treatment of line staff is unreal ... will be gone in a month... don't they get it.....
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