mental health

Verykoukis: Name DHHS secretary soon

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:40:01 -0500

Andrea Verykoukis thinks Dempsey Benton's replacement should start soon.

In a post on The Progressive Pulse, the N.C. Policy Watch blogger writes that Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue should name the new secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services right away.

I think we need to know — now, today — who the new Secretary of Health and Human Services will be. The mental health crisis could get worse (theoretically anyway, it's hard to see how), and we need to know who’s going to turn it around. I'm not faulting Dempsey Benton, not necessarily, but he's moving on, so it's time for Bev to tell us who’s coming in. Where are the plans to get a handle on this mess?

Benton, the current secretary, said Wednesday that he will not stay on board during Perdue's administration.

Benton coy about future plans

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:15:09 -0500

Dempsey Benton is holding his cards tight.

The former Raleigh city manager, brought in by Gov. Mike Easley to clean up problems with the state's mental health system, is not saying whether he might stay at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

When asked by a staffer on Dome's behalf if he would continue in his job, Benton smiled but said nothing in response.

"I guess these things are up to the Gov.-elect and her team," said spokesman Tom Lawrence.

Perdue has said that fixing the mental health system is a priority, and Benton is among the most well-regarded of Easley's appointments, but it's not known if he's willing to stay at a rather difficult job.

On the other hand, with the state still facing problems, he would not be seen as accomplishing his goal if he leaves now.

As previously reported, he is one of three members of Easley's Cabinet who might stay.

Judge orders man off death row

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 08:54:43 -0500

A Superior Court judge has ordered a Halifax County man off death row.

Judge John R. Jolly Jr. found that Clinton Cebert Smith is mentally retarded and therefore not capable of understanding his actions. A jury found a decade ago that Smith laced cherry Kool-Aid with a pesticide, leading to the death of his six-year-old daughter.

Smith is the 14th person removed from the state's death row for mental retardation, according to the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. A change in state law in 2001 prohibited the state from executing mentally disabled people.

The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed executing those with mental retardation.

Smith's lawyers say the ruling is another sign of his innocence in a case they say has been twisted by hidden evidence, misleading testimony and inadequate representation. They are now hoping appelate judges will award him a new trial. (N&O)

Central staffers: We're scapegoats

bniolet — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:42:35 -0500

Five workers at a state mental hospital who violated rules by strapping a patient face-down to a bed charged this morning that they were being treated as scapegoats for the hospital's management problems.

The five — a nurse and four health care technicians — are on paid leave of up to 30 days from their jobs at Central Regional Hospital while state officials conduct an internal investigation, Michael Biesecker reports.

The incident occurred early Wednesday morning at Central Regional after a 24-year-old man resisted having his blood drawn for tests and made verbal threats, according to a staff report.

The employees admitted this morning that they had restrained the man-face down, instead of placing him on his back as required by hospital procedures. The face-down position can be life-threatening, causing the person to panic and making it difficult to breathe.

But they said they were short-handed and had not been given sufficient training to handle the patient, whom they described as hostile.

"The patient was very aggressive," said Tim Strong, a health care technician. "We did the best we can."

Cherry Foundation denies news account

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:11:48 -0400

The president of The Cherry Foundation, a nonprofit charity affiliated with a state mental hospital in Goldsboro, sent out letters this week countering what she said were "misconceptions" created by a story in last Sunday's News & Observer.

The article detailed more than 100 trips taken by Cherry employees to medical conferences, as well as an annual symposium the hospital puts on at a Wrightsville Beach resort, Michael Biesecker reports.

Some of the expenses for employee travel and the beach retreat were paid by The Cherry Foundation, using more than $88,000 in grants from pharmaceutical companies who make psychiatric drugs commonly prescribed by the hospital's doctors.

In an e-mail to the newspaper, foundation President Stefanie Bostic challenged the assertion that money from the nonprofit paid for travel costs. A similar memorandum from Bostic was e-mailed to all Cherry employees from the office of hospital director Jack St. Clair.

Checks, federal tax returns, bank statements and audits show the travel expenses were drawn from foundation funds, however.

Document(s):
cherry-check.pdf

DHHS nixes Dix scripts

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:49:53 -0400

Dorothea Dix is gone in name only.

A judge may have ruled the state can't move patients out of Raleigh's Dorothea Dix Hospital because of safety concerns with a new mental hospital in Butner, but that doesn't mean N.C. Department of Health and Human Services officials can't try to eliminate the name of the 19th century social reformer for which the historic facility was named.

Michael Lancaster, co-director of the state Division of Mental Health, issued a memo Monday ordering that Dorothea Dix no longer exists, at least on the telephone, Michael Biesecker reports.

All Dix employees are now to follow the following script when answering calls:

Good Morning or Good Afternoon
Central Regional Hospital Raleigh Campus
This is (your name)
How may I help you?

State agrees to hold off on Dix transfer

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:39:02 -0400

Patients at Dorothea Dix will stay put for now.

The state signed a legal agreement Thursday in response to a lawsuit filed by Disability Rights North Carolina, which outlined numerous safety concerns and technical glitches with a new $138 million hospital in Butner.

Patients would have been transferred to the new facility on Wednesday.

The state's willingness to accept the deal is spurred by the results of a visit to the Butner facility last week by regulators from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Though the state has not yet released the full details of what inspectors found, it appears likely that the new facility will be found in violation of federal operating rules.

That would make it illegal for the state to transfer patients there. (N&O

Dix closure delayed

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:40:58 -0400

A state judge has stalled the plan to shut down Dorothea Dix hospital.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour issued a temporary restraining order Thursday that bars the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services from moving the bulk of Dix's patients to the new Central Regional Hospital.

That had been sheduled to start on Oct. 1.

The judge acted in response to a class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of patients by the advocacy group Disability Rights North Carolina, which has been monitoring conditions at Central Regional.

"We are pleased with the decision, obviously," said Vicki Smith, the executive director of Disability Rights. "What the danger is when courts get involved is that the lawyers start arguing small points and we forget why we're there, which is to document that patients are safe."

It is not clear how long Baddour's order will last. (N&O)

Mungers zingers at UNC-TV debate

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:32:45 -0400

Mike Munger got a rare statewide platform tonight.

The Libertarian gubernatorial candidate made good use of his appearance at a debate on UNC-TV to get off a few zingers. (Mingers?)

On mental health reform: "There was an overhaul in 2001. To me, it looked more like a frat party."

On corporate incentives: "This focus on trying to pay companies to come here is basically economic prostitution that's not going to last in the long run."

On the veto: "I think of the veto like spanking your child. It means that you're a bad parent, that you haven't successfully used all of the things that should come before that. Now maybe it sometimes still happens, but it really means it's a failure for you, and it's a failure for the child."

On voting for third-party candidates: "Unless you have Jedi powers, you're not going to be able to control the way other people vote. You have one precious vote. Your decision on how to cast it will send a signal to our leaders in Raleigh."

Advocacy group sue to stop Dix closure

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:12:10 -0400

A legal advocacy group has asked a judge to stop the pending closure of Dorothea Dix.

In a class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday, lawyers for Disability Rights North Carolina detail 15 safety issues at Central Regional Hospital, the new Butner facility where the bulk of Dix's patients will soon be transferred.

The nonprofit group has a federal mandate to investigate conditions independently in state hospitals, and it has been monitoring Central Regional for months. Its suit asks that a Wake County Superior Court judge issue a temporary restraining order to stop the transfer of Dix patients.

"The new hospital has significant issues regarding the safety and care of patients," said Vicki Smith, the advocacy group's executive director. "The [state] continues to provide assurances they will fix the problems, but to date, serious problems still exist."

Tom Lawrence, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said he could not comment on the lawsuit, citing a policy.

In a separate development, investigators for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services showed up at Central Regional to look into multiple complaints. (N&O)