Take your medication

Lackluster performance and patient deaths at Oregon State Hospital have led to concerns about Oregon’s standard of care for the mentally ill. Some say that federal oversight is required—unfortunately, the state disagrees.

Oregon State Hospital has had its share of questionable occurrences over the years, with most debate circling around the death of mental patient Moises Perez back in October. Perez died in his bed and his body reportedly remained there for several hours without notice—witnesses also said that Perez’s room was right across from the nursing station, according to an article in The Oregonian earlier this month.

Reports say that Perez had complained of chest pains that day, and also mention that the patient’s chart, which requires progress notes as least once a week, had not been updated for 73 days.

This event, among others, spurred advocates for Oregonians with mental illnesses, such as the Oregon chapter of the  National Alliance on Mental Illness, to request that federal oversight and enforcement be initiated. They worry about the state’s willingness and capability to make the changes that would assure that mental health patients do not become victims of neglect.

Make no mistake—Perez has not been the only victim of neglect at OSH. A year before Perez’s death, a mental patient at OSH was able to commit suicide by hanging in his cell—an act that should not come within reach of any patient with known mental problems. Who knows how many other patients are being neglected by staff and lax regulations every day.

Governor Kulongoski, who rejected the idea of federal oversight, was even quoted saying in an article in the Statesman Journal that he “agrees with advocates that the hospital has been neglected for too long.”

Well, I am certainly glad that he agrees, yet I am displeased that he seems unwilling to make any real moves toward fixing it, and that he is resisting what would be a beneficial federal oversight that would get it done sooner rather than later, and make sure it gets done at all.

If the state officials responsible for running the state’s mental hospitals had been doing their jobs, or if our perplexingly resistant governor had been making sure of that, we would not be in a situation that required a more rigid form of scrutiny.

All that a federal, court-enforced agreement would do is make sure that Oregon hospitals face a penalty or sanction for not complying with changes. These only become problematic when a state decides to fight the changes in court—changes which are often beneficial and necessary.

Bob Joondeph, executive director of Disability Rights Oregon, was also quoted in the Statesman’s Journal  saying that “At present time, there is no penalty, there is no enforcement mechanism to make sure goals are met,” and that Perez’s death was “not outside the ordinary in the hospital in terms of the level of attention and care that people receive.”

Oregon legislators are dragging their feet, claiming rather incorrectly that federal oversight will slow down the process. The problem is that they themselves haven’t started the process and, if they have, it’s moving much too slowly to notice.

Caring for our mentally ill is important—not only for them, but for us. The mentally ill are not always criminals or dangerous psychopaths. They’re usually just individuals who developed some form of psychosis through no fault of their own and who now need our help, through tax dollars and meaningful government action, to live some semblance of a life.

Clearly, Kulongoski and his contemporaries do not see this government function as important. They are slow to make changes and resist any kind of outside force that would make them have to move faster.

The importance of caring for those who are unable to care for themselves requires real action, not lip service. If federal oversight is what it will take for that to happen, I say bring it on.