Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Lawmakers question officials about state hospital problems (Vermont)
Times Argus story - "Legislators on Tuesday promised to pay more attention to the Vermont State Hospital as it deals with its first spate of suicides in eight years and the fallout from loss of federal Medicare reimbursements for at least six months. ... The challenging situation faced by the state's sole inpatient psychiatric hospital goes to the very heart of how it cares for the nearly 50 or so patients in its care at any given time. And, since two separate suicides in August and most recently on Sept. 15, patient care at the Waterbury facility has been questioned by federal health regulators and mental health advocates."
New center honors slain activist (New Jersey) Courier Post story - "A mental health center that opened in the borough Tuesday bears the name of a man who overcame mental illness and dedicated his life to helping those affected by it. Dozens of relatives and friends gathered at the Donald Mays Jr. Self Help Center on Colby Avenue to honor the life Mays lived and the work he did before he was gunned down with five others in a two-day shooting spree last year. At the time of his death, Mays was a regional coordinator for the nonprofit Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey, which will run the center."
State probing youth mental hospital in Monmouth County (New Jersey)
Newsday story - "The state has launched an investigation into the Arthur Brisbane Child Treatment Center, a state-run psychiatric hospital that has been sharply criticized in recent years by children's rights advocates and patients' families. ... The center has come under scrutiny for keeping children after they have received their medical discharge because the state has nowhere to put them."
Pleasant Hill's demands aren't binding, Crestwood says (California) Contra Costa Times story - "The conditions Pleasant Hill insisted on before approving a controversial mental health facility have no legal backbone, county officials and the center's operators said Tuesday. Furthermore, the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors will not intervene to strengthen the restrictions, which are contained in a land-use agreement between Crestwood Behavioral Health and the city. Instead, supervisors on Tuesday assigned a deputy county administrator to monitor the facility and provide quarterly reports to the board."
Boost From Poverty Helps Kids' Mental Health Story at
Health Central - "Climbing out of poverty significantly reduces the likelihood of childhood mental illness, says a new study that looked at the effects of a casino opening on Indian tribal welfare. The study, which appears in the Oct. 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, compared rates of poverty and mental health among Native American and other children living in rural North Carolina between 1993 and 2000." See also the
abstract at the JAMA site (full text is available for a fee).
Governor establishes mental health task force (Oregon)
Story at
Bend.com - "Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced Tuesday that he has issued an executive order establishing the Governors Mental Health Taskforce. The task force will review, analyze, and recommend changes to the states public mental health system in order to preserve and improve services for Oregonians with severe emotional and psychiatric disorders."
