*Update* Join the Beyond VSH live blog coverage (via below CoverItLive widget) during the VPR VT Edition broadcast concerning Vermont State Hospital (VSH): i.e., Tuesday, May 12, 2009 starting at noon (ET).
Food for thought:
"The key to change... is to let go of fear."It is high time for change! And, we are it (i.e., the very change we seek), if only we let go of our fears and move ahead together.
-- Rosanne Cash
*Back to original post*:
A glimpse back, albeit brief, concerning Vermont's mental health system in order to help in envisioning just how much progress or rather lack thereof has been made thus far:
Week of February 23, 2007
Vermont Guardian
[former statewide weekly newspaper; since retired]
Editorial
Full-time focus
[emphasis mine]
[...]Read the editorial in full and, make certain to note the date or rather year it was originally published (i.e., February 23, 2007), here.
It’s time for less talk about titles, and glossy blueprints, and more about ways to provide the right care at the right time, and put the patient, not policy, first.
With that duly noted, listen to Vermont Public Radio (VPR) Vermont Edition at noontime today (Tuesday, May 12, 2009) when the show features the following focus at the top of their show after the news (here):
For the second time in a year, the federal government has denied certification to the Vermont State Hospital. We look into the continuing issues of patient care and building upkeep at the state-run mental health facility. The continued failure to meet federal guidelines is costing the state close to$10 million a year in lost federal revenue. We check in on the state's reaction, and on plans for alternatives to the Waterbury hospital. Our guests include Vermont's Mental Health Commissioner, Michael Hartman, and Republican State Representative and longtime mental health advocate, Anne Donahue.One can listen to the show live either locally via radio or online using the VPR audio player or, otherwise, listen after the show has aired and it is posted online afterwards (click onto "listen" within right-hand sidebar on episode page), here.
(episode page includes related informational links at bottom of page)
*Note*: added live blog tool widget; added food for thought quote & comments; last updated on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 4:26 AM (ET).
1 comments:
The fact that CMS sent a letter to VSH offering a "plan of corrections" demonstrates the capricious nature of the CMS nature of the survey process. The survey performed at VSH was debatable at best. 8 surveyors came to a 54 bed hospital. This would be the equivalent of 36 surveyors going to a 450 bed hospital; and is obviously not the norm for any other hospital.
Post a Comment