Will reports on deaths in the mental health system be more available?
The state, which had pledged transparency on mental-health related issues, fell back on that promise over time, releasing censored reports on deaths and assaults in state mental hospitals that make it impossible to tell what happened.
Former state Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dempsey Benton, through his spokesman, defended the practice of blacking out nearly every word of death and police reports, Lynn Bonner reports.
That may change in Gov. Beverly Perdue's administration. Perdue said she will "err on the side of public information."
Her DHHS secretary Lanier Cansler reiterated that position today. Cansler said when he spoke with Benton last week, the former secretary mentioned an issue with redactions.
Cansler said he hasn't had time to study it, but will follow Perdue's lead.
To the extent that they won't violate privacy laws, information will be available, Cansler said.
"From my standpoint, it makes it easier for me to fix things sometimes whenever they're out in the open, when people know what issues are and what needs to be done to fix them."
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Re: Cansler: Reports should be more open
I think the public has a right to know what goes on in the state institutions. At the same time, we should respect confidentiality. It is there for a reason. I thought it was good that the Cherry police departmetn to black out details regarding the rape. It should be up to the individuals involved int the incident to decide whether or not they want the details of their assault put out for the public. I have to ask a quetions here. I just dont understand why we are constantly ingoring the assaults on staff in the hospitals? Are there lives not important? THe 65 year old nurse assaulted at Cherry hardly got any coverage. Where is the video of her assault? The hospital workers are human too and should be treated with the same respect. If we want to stop the violence then the government need to priortize where the money is going. These problems occur because of the cutbacks that occur every year. Privatizing is a quick solution but it doesn't solve the long term problem. Yeah, these privat companies may have money now, who knows what will happen next year. If they go backrupt, there goes an important service. The government needs to take control over this. Which is more important, health or tulips on the side of the roads? The public needs to see the whole picture.