tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post8658551298321261304..comments2024-03-26T00:25:34.026-04:00Comments on Not Running a Hospital: Awful news in mental healthPaul Levyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17065446378970179507noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-70850731528667415052006-11-27T06:24:00.000-05:002006-11-27T06:24:00.000-05:00It is a department that has been chronically under...It is a department that has been chronically underfunded even before these cuts. There is a point at which further cuts require that you just have to shut certain things down or remove certain services.<br /><br />I know Commissioner Childs and know her to be an honorable and thoughtful person. I am guessing it is tearing her apart about having to cut these services, and I am guessing, too, that she considered many alternatives before making the choices she made.<br /><br />BTW, this appears to be one of those cases in which you can place the entire blame on the governor. He personally decided which accounts should be cut.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-44420376434518627252006-11-26T11:34:00.000-05:002006-11-26T11:34:00.000-05:00Mr. Levy,
I would be curious to hear your critiqu...Mr. Levy,<br /><br />I would be curious to hear your critique of the department 'closing its doors.' Surely there must be a more constructive way to deal with budget cuts, and you as a healthcare manager would have insight into this. It is my understanding that the entire budget was only cut by less than 2%. Is this correct?<br /><br />Regardless, this is really too bad. Even as a fiscal conservative myself, I realize the need for federal funding for our most needy. However, I find it difficult to place 100% of the blame on Romney.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-24456634070569615592006-11-23T13:03:00.000-05:002006-11-23T13:03:00.000-05:00As a teacher, the hardest aspect of my job is deal...As a teacher, the hardest aspect of my job is dealing with students who have untreated mental illness or substance addiction or both. Already, our school nurse is the primary health care provider for a significant percentage of our student body of 1,000 teens. How does Romney expect kids who are seriously ill survive, let alone pass MCAS?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-90885064780657221772006-11-22T12:00:00.000-05:002006-11-22T12:00:00.000-05:00Today's notice from the MHA:
The Department of Me...Today's notice from the MHA:<br /><br />The Department of Mental Health (DMH) notified MHA this morning that it is holding off on closing admissions to state-operated facilities through the weekend.<br /><br />DMH will provide a further update on Monday, November 27, and MHA will pass that information on to you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-30574485939138451472006-11-21T10:50:00.000-05:002006-11-21T10:50:00.000-05:00A horror and just another way that it's easy to vi...A horror and just another way that it's easy to victimize and stigmatize the mentally ill. Especially at the holidays when more people may need extra care. Thank God we've spoken through our votes to forego a tax reduction. This is where our money should be going...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-2362217107413917142006-11-21T10:34:00.000-05:002006-11-21T10:34:00.000-05:00Today's Boston Globe reports that state psychiatri...Today's Boston Globe reports that state psychiatric hospitals will stop accepting patients.<br /><br />Here are some excerpts from the article that show the Romney Administration's approach was to treat this as a simple matter of placing the onus on the Department to run with a lower budget.<br /><br />The decision to stop accepting new patients is viewed as a ploy to have funding restored.<br /><br />What a cynical approach.<br /><br />One can sympathize with the need to cut the budget -- Massachusetts requires a balanced budget, so there is, in effect no choice other than borrowing via bonds, etc. However, one would think that there would have been advance consultation to determine whether the budget cuts for this or any other department were realistic and could be implemented without diminishment of services as the Governor's spokersperson seems to assume.<br /><br /><<"This is just a horrible Thanksgiving for people in the state who have mental illness," said Toby Fisher, executive director of the Massachusetts branch of the National Association on Mental Illness. "This will block up the entire mental health system."<br /><br />Romney's spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, defended the cuts, and accused Department of Mental Health officials of resorting to a "Washington Monument" strategy to try to get out of reducing the budget: "You take something highly visible and shut it down, so the public will complain and funding will be restored," he said .<br /><br />The agency should be able to absorb its 1.1 percent cut without reducing services, Fehrnstrom said.<br /><br />"We think any good manager should be able to absorb a 1.1 percent cut through payroll and administration," he said, and budget specialists will work with the department "to put forward a more realistic plan.">><br /><br />Where were the budget specialists before the cuts were announced?<br /><br />cheerz...BwanaBwanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15081268445903161115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-25505097434445930962006-11-20T17:19:00.000-05:002006-11-20T17:19:00.000-05:00I don't know anything about this aspect of the law...I don't know anything about this aspect of the law, but I will pass along your thought.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-47966207449519338672006-11-20T16:34:00.000-05:002006-11-20T16:34:00.000-05:00I've been practicing mental health and guardianshi...I've been practicing mental health and guardianship law for 12 years and I've seen a lot of cuts. This is the first time I've felt physically sick over it. <br /><br />One issue that utterly boggles my mind is the cut to children's mental health services. On January 30, 2006, Judge Posner, of the Federal District Court in Springfield, issued a strongly-worded order finding the Commonwealth in violation of Medicaid laws by failing to community-based services to children and adolescents in a manner which preserves their right to live in the least restrictive enviromnent most suited to their needs. The Commonwealth was <b>ordered</b> to <b>expand</b> DMH services. [http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=35074] or [http://www.mecf.org/articles/2205_2006-01-27.pdf]<br /><br />I strongly suspect that if this matter is brought to his attention, Judge Posner will not hesitate to hold the Commonwealth in contempt and enjoin these particular programs from being cut. He already said that if the Commonwealth and the plaintiffs could not come to an agreement, he would order reforms himself. Paul -- I think you know something about the Commonwealth being ordered to do things they don't want to do. Your thoughts?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-4903070641230330912006-11-20T15:46:00.000-05:002006-11-20T15:46:00.000-05:00I certainly hope that Gov. Patrick will reverse th...I certainly hope that Gov. Patrick will reverse this, if he can, but I worry about people during the next two months.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-68883657842747261302006-11-20T12:47:00.000-05:002006-11-20T12:47:00.000-05:00Ths is so distressing. I've dealt with the DMH for...Ths is so distressing. I've dealt with the DMH for youth services and knowing that Mitt is planning to cut 37% of the almost non-existant budget is frightening. These kids NEED help, and their families need services that DMH provides to reenter the children back from residential treatment. It is criminal to cut this budget. I'll be posting about this on a national blog.margalithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09782326504951603071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-86658767953802236182006-11-20T09:39:00.000-05:002006-11-20T09:39:00.000-05:00I expect Patrick will cancel this as soon as he ta...I expect Patrick will cancel this as soon as he takes office.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-48518538225872687032006-11-20T02:06:00.000-05:002006-11-20T02:06:00.000-05:00My god. I feel physically ill. I'm a grad studen...My god. I feel physically ill. I'm a grad student in mental health counseling, and I did my practicum in a 10-bed residence for dually diagnosed women. This is monstrous. There is nothing between most of those women and freezing to death on a sidewalk but the charity of the state. They are mostly unemployed and unemployable, unable to even use a stove unsupervised, because (if nothing else) of the severe drowsiness that is a side effect of their maintenance meds. Words fail me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com