Wednesday, May 18, 2005

NAMI Connection The first issue of a new e-newsletter from NAMI - "The NAMI Connection will bring periodic, lively news and stories of interest to NAMI supporters, supplementing The Advocate, NAMI's magazine for dues-paying members that arrives four times a year by regular mail. It will provide a broader view of NAMI than our more specialized electronic newsletters..."  
  

Helping the Hospital (Vermont) WCAX-TV story - "Workers at the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury could be getting a pay hike, if they stay on board. The Governor and mental health advocates are working on a plan that would boost the salaries of hospital workers. It's part of an effort to retain employees while the state moves to close the mental health facility. Workers have been leaving their jobs because the hospital has a series of troubles. This plan hopes to address short term issues. The century old facility is aging and is scheduled to close in the coming years. Just about all the players agree a new facility is needed to treat the mentally ill, but some are worried patients will suffer in the short term."  
  

Gaps in Mental Health Care System Remain Following Central State Closure (Indiana) WISH-TV story - "It's been a little over ten years since then-Governor Evan Bayh announced he was closing Central State Hospital. The reasoning behind the closure was – and remains today – that many patients no longer need a hospital setting. Did that decision create a critical gap in the mental health system? ... Dr. Eric Wright and Dr. John McGrew have been following the last 389 patients discharged from Central State in 1994. They found of that group of patients, many have integrated into the community and report being satisfied with their living conditions. There is an interesting twist to the study. Every month someone was checking with a professional on the whereabouts and well being of each of those particular clients. That kept everyone, the patients and the professionals, on their toes..."  
  

Mental Health chief ends stormy 4-year term (South Carolina) Story at The State - "The man at the eye of South Carolina’s swirling mental health care crisis for the past four years resigned Tuesday. George Gintoli, director of the state Department of Mental Health, leaves behind shriveled state budgets that led to layoffs, sparked a surge of mental patients into area emergency rooms and prompted legal action over the state’s handling of the mentally ill..."