Unsafe Haven: Viewer Email

(CBS)  In response to its investigation of Charter Hospitals, CBS News received hundreds of emails. Many of these letters came from people who had had first-hand experience with Charter, as either patients or employees. Most of these people backed up what CBS had found. Many others were outraged at Charter; a few said that CBS had been unfair to the mental health care industry by focusing only on the bad. Below are a few of the more noteworthy letters.

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Just watched your show and I was so glad to see that somebody finally spoke out! Managed care has changed the focus of health care….just like Mr. Johnson said….Charter only cares about the money-not the patient's mental health. If you think that Charter Pines was shocking - check out Charter Fairmount in Philadelphia. Children are admitted to beds where other children have just left (not cleaned in between), rugs smell from urine and spills, children are admitted and have to sleep in quiet rooms because the beds are full, and restraints are a common occurrence. Staffing is short and people are not trained specific for children. The remark he made about the in-service trainings is true…..when there were any trainings! I speak from experience - worked there for many years - and had to leave. Reason? I cared too much about the kids!

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I was employed and/or affiliated with Charter Medical for over ten years and watched the system deteriorate to the point represented in your story. I held clinical and administrative positions in a system and left in 1997 when it was clear that the "ship was sinking."

I was affiliated with Charter's "flagship" hospital in Atlanta…Peachford. I watched "The Peach" die on the vine and the quality of administration and professional staff dwindle.

Charter is and always has been a business. Keeping "heads in the beds" is and always has been the primary objective. Insurance fraud is part of the culture. I watched as physicians maintained caseloads of 30 to 40 patients… billing each for 45 minutes of therapy a day….not that many hours in any day that I know.

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You just touched the tip of the iceberg. In the private sector of mental health the battle cry of administrators, as far as care for patients is concerned, is: "If it don't make dollars, it don't make sense." I have been an MHT for more than nine years in the private and public sectors and can say without hesitation that over 90% of any care, counseling, diagnosing, treatment and even if a patient is or is not going to be discharged, no matter what the billing says, is done or determined by the MHTs……

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Good work on uncovering an ongoing abuse of humanity that continues to remain hidden. How do these guys get away with this? To think that our tax money is going directly to these jerks who are preying on people who need help.
Ann Cannon
Caney, Oklahoma.

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I am a retired licensed profession clinical counselor, who has woked in the mental health field since 1980. For the most part mental health facilities are run with compassion and skill. What hospitalization is used for, should be used for, for those individuals that are a significant danger to themselves or others. Counseling is typically not part of hospitalization because insurance companies will not pay for more that 3-4 days. Just as ER patients are stabilized then placed in more appropriate facilities, that is the goal of hospitalization concerned with acute mental dysfunction. We calm them so they can hear what options are available. Then it is up to the patients and/or their families to get long-term counseling. I think it is very important for the general public to understand that counseling other than "band-aid" work cannot, at this time, be offered.

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I watched your program featuring Charter Behavioral health systems this evening. I was a mental health counselor for charter behavioral health systems in Mission Viejo, California for 6 months. What I saw there was unbelievable. I worked on the adult lockdown unit, the adult unit, and the children's unit.
While I worked there I was made aware that a former patient, that had been there for over a month, who was released because his insurance ran out, killed himself the very next day.
I too received no formal training in restraints or patient care. I was put into a room with 5 other new counselors and left there to sign paperwork for at least 2 hours. I was then told to come back the next day for my first shift.
Tricia
Palm Springs, California

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While I missed the program tonight, a friend did email me with your web site regarding "Unsafe Haven." I'm so glad you posted so much information about the show, it gives me a first hand account of a show I couldn't watch.
Sincerely,
Richard Shaw

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And a very well done to Mr. Terrance Johnson.
He did excellent work and it was apparent that he sincerely cared about the patients and about exposing the corrupt system.
Lauren Blaine
Hollywood, California

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I had mixed feelings watching … Unsafe Haven. Of course things like this must be exposed and addressed. But I've got to say, as someone who has worked in health care for some 13 years, where have you been? It was clear to most 20 years ago that making medical and psychiatric decisions based upon "cost containment." And "cost effectiveness" was a dangerous trend. Yet managed care is the great medical event of the decade!
Wake up! It's going to get worse, not better.

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Kudos for going after Charter! I worked for them for 18 years and was threatened to be fired because I did not admit a patient who had good health insurance, even though the patient did not need admission. I left soon after and worked for another corporation for 8 years - until Charter bought them out. I left the day Charter took over. The bottom line seemed to be their only interest.
Louise Mack

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I work at a charter faciliy in San Diego. Why doesn't anyone ever do a story on the many people that are helped at these facilities, whose lives have been saved, who have success stories? Is it not worthy of any publicity?

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Thank you for airing the report on restraint and seclusion. The public needs to know what goes on in psychiatric hospitals with our most vulnerable citizens.

My 36-year-old brother died November 11 during a take-down restraint in Stockton, California. Our family struggles daily with this tragedy.

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Dear Mr. Bradley:

As my wife and I watched the investigation into Charter Hospitals, I was seething with anger and frustration at the absolute impunity under which Charter Hospitals operates in the guise of "patient care."

My wife was hospitalized for severe depression at a Charter facility in Jackson, Mississippi. I was amazed at the speed and swiftness they employed in admitting her. However, I was very soon to realize there was an underlying motive….Insurance.

When she was admitted, my wife was kept in a "lockdown" area because the interviewing counselor said that she was a danger to herself. After another seven days in a less restricted wing, her counselor and doctor pronounced her "stable" and well enough to go home. I could not help but notice that her remarkable recovery coincided with the number of days for which our insurance would pay.

Three weeks later, my wife was in serious danger of harming herself, and when I called Charter for help, I was told that I could not bring her there because we had an outstanding balance on our bill. I asked the person on the phone what would happen if I just showed up on the door with her. I was told in no uncertain terms that they would refer us "to some other hospital emergency room." Two hours later, I had to take her to an emergency room because she had taken a handful of pills.

In my experience, Charter Systems is only out to make a dollar, without regard to the dangers and well-being of those they propose to help. Charter has very slick commercials and a well-polished advertising campaign that makes the general public seek them out when faced with serious behavioral problems. Unfortunately, the actual care received is only in direct proportion to the patient's ability to pay.

Thank you for helping to expose this dastardly practice to this world. it is very difficult to explain to anyone that has not had experience in these types of situations exactly what we, as families and patients, go through in getting the proper help for our loved ones. Add to that the greed exhibited by this corporation in a situation where most families are emotionally traumatized and unable to think clearly, and you can see how much of a stigma we face.

Again, thank you so very much. Perhaps the public will begin to understand the situations we face and drop the stigma society has placed on mental illness.

Sincerely,
W. Earl Davis
Vicksburg, Mississippi

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Email 60II

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[jason_arnold9]

Please help me.

I will be 30 on January 24 2012 A.D. Wikipedia defines torture.
May we please proceed with a Jury Trial of our peers?

16 years ago I was 13 years old; I AM now- 29; At this facility I was put in the padded room for 93 days with nothing but a blue paper gown, "I tried to choke myself to death" "with the blue paper gown". In this room their was: A cold floor, no matt to lay on, No pillow, simply put: "I was tortured at this facility".
"I was placed in a straight jacket multiple times; One time for 27 hours-"
"I was also stripped naked several times", they took my blue paper gown off and placed me on a cold steel restraint table with 4 leather cuffs that bound my ankles and hands, with a leather strap that bound my waist,
"I was injected on this table MANY times with medications that to this day I have no idea what they were however they made me go in and out of consciousness as A DR. watched through a window and took notes. and I KNOW have seriously screwed up my brain..
"I personally hold these people accountable for continual torture to me throughout my life, right now; "I continuously suffer with daily flashbacks of this place", and I suffer from nightmares of this place while I sleep."
"I declare that this hospital and many others like it are guilty of torture and TREASON to the highest extent of the law to: Myself and others who were at the time: Kids).- "children."> and guilty of inflicting severe mental torment that has lasted and haunted me all these years later."
" I ask for action and I ask that those responsible be held accountable for destroying My chance at leading a happy full life. "I SUFFER DAILY BECAUSE OF THIS F***ING "HELL THAT HAS BEEN INFLICTED UPON ME BY These PEOPLE and AGENCIES.: Charter Northbrook EAP Boys unit"4600 W Schroeder Drive Brown Deer Wisconsin, The State Of Michigan Family Independence agency; And the Hiawatha Behavioral Health agency".
" I have od'd and died twice in later years. Marquette General Hospital filled me with charcoal and brought my soul back into me on these occasions.(and moms prayers)
" I also continue to suffer from nervous breakdowns"
" I have SEVERE P.T.S.D" "Bipolar Disorders" and at times Schizophrenia Disorders
They have: In Fact; (COVERED THIS UP FOR FAR TOO LONG).
Your Honor,: I ask for a Jury. I ask for that Jury to Find those responsible for Damages beyond explanation to Me and a lot of pain and sufferring damages in the amount of: $ $93,000,000 (ninety three million dollars).
P.S. My Mom and My Brother Have also committed suicide, My Brother Died May 28th 1999 at the age of 25; and My mom died On March 7th 2008 at the age of 55;. I found both of them "dead" purple, Not breathing. This world sure does seem to me to be a cruel one. And The truth rarely reaches the eyes of the general public. Where was and where is the justice for my family?
Sincerily, Jason Paul Arnold
Page 1 of 4
11/28/2011


To: Honorable Gordon Quist
For the western district Of Michigan
Northern Division
Case: # 2:11-CV-260


JASON PAUL ARNOLD,

PLAINTIFF,

V.

STATE OF MICHIGAN FAMILY INDEPENDENCE AGENCY.

HIAWATHA BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AGENCY.

CHARTER BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SYSTEM.
&
PEERS OF ATTORNEY'S?












Greetings Mr. Quist,
I am writing in response to your decision: DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. Res Judicata.? I disagree and ask for a replacement Judge.

1- I the plaintiff Jason Paul Arnold challenge this decision.

The last time I approached the court at the federal courthouse in Marquette Michigan. I was on my way to the elevator and an agent whom was working security detail by the Metal detector and personal effects scan machine; intimidated me by: making the statement "people like you and ""matters" like this ""just tend to""go away"". Justice at work as they sipped coffee and laughed?

Change Of Venue requested immediately . Due to The FACT(s)

THAT THIS HAS BEEN COVERED UP.;

WITH MY FAMILY PERSECUTED FOR YEARS. I QUITE HONESTLY KNOWING THIS; believe : THE GOOD OLD BOY SYSTEM THAT HAS GOTTEN ATTORNEYS AND YES SOME OTHERS IN POSITIONS OF POWER WHOM I BELIEVE HAVE ABUSED ME ONCE AGAIN BY,; FOR in facto YEARS. These DENIALS OF of "JUSTICE UNDER THE LAW AS AN EQUAL" citizen. A SINGLE CERTAIN FACT remains I was 12. I turned 13. in that hell called charter northbrook. I reserve my right to proceed. ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL. WE ARE GRANTED CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS.1 BEING:"EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAW".
Not of the wealthy and their lawyers and interests. Their way of law that they use to oppress the poor and their families, NEEDS TO STOP . I NEED TO PRESERVE OUR RIGHTS IN THIS STATEMENT WITHOUT THE FEAR TO FURTHER PERSECUTION OF MY KIDS. I retract My $93,000,000,000
demand.