The headline caught me by surprise: “Substance abuse treatment center penalized after patient’s death.”
Bridgeway; photo credit: chosenfast.com
“The Guilford Center has been issued two administrative penalties for violating state statutes regarding medication requirements and clinical and nursing competence following the death of a patient in January, a county agency said today…”
First of all: Someone died at Bridgeway in January? Was that in the news? (Was it someone I knew?) How did I miss that? I just Googled. Maybe I didn’t miss it. I can’t find news reports from January.
The News-Record.com article goes on to say that DHHS is suspending admissions at the county’s substance abuse treatment center for indigent clients until a corrective plan is in place, and the Guilford Center Behavioral Health and Disability Services (county mental health department) is seeking a new provider to replace Bridgeway Behavioral Health, which currently runs the facility.
What happened? According to a WFMY report, the patient died of natural causes, but a subsequent DHHS investigation “found other problems dealing with medication requirements and protection from harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation.”
Knowing what I know about Bridgeway, I’m surprised. Still, this is not the first time that the state has halted admissions there. DHHS temporarily closed admissions and imposed fines shortly after the rehab center opened in August 2008, due to problems with record-keeping, staff training and medication management. At that time, County Commissioner John Parks said:
“If something else happens, it’s over with Bridgeway.”
The news that Bridgeway will no longer run the facility is particularly disheartening to me, because the local demand for indigent substance abuse treatment far exceeds available beds, and Bridgeway, the state’s only county-funded long-term residential treatment provider, uses evidence-based treatment practices and offers much-needed detox, outpatient and inpatient programs. Clients are assigned treatment teams, and integrated care is provided for patients suffering from co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. In short: This is a good treatment model.
Based on what I’ve seen on visits, heard from professionals, and most important, what I’ve heard from friends who’ve been (or still are) in their programs, Bridgeway is my first recommendation to homeless and poor people seeking recovery — although there’s always a waiting list for a residential bed. And I have friends who are on that waiting list right now. (I guess they’re in limbo now? Wow. Sad.)
But apparently, there are some issues that need to be addressed. I’m concerned about what the change in providers will mean for clients seeking recovery. And I want to know more. Stay tuned…
“Many summer food programs have been slashed during the recession leaving low-income children with fewer options, a report by the Food Research and Action Center said Tuesday.The budget cuts reduced participation in summer school food programs across the nation over the past years, the anti-hunger group said.This drop in participation comes at a time when more and more families need these food programs, the Center said. ‘When summer food participation needed to be rising, there instead was a dip of 2.5 percent — or 73,000 low-income children — from July 2008 to July 2009,’ the Center said in a statement… ‘While 17.5 million low-income children received school lunch during the 2008-2009 school year, only 2.8 million children got summer food when school was out,’ the Center said.That means only 16 percent of low-income students got the summer school meals in 2009.”
Hello:
