posted on January 23, 2003 03:04:25 PM new
And after they are closed,Medicare takes responsibility.Ohhhhh wait,Medicade for the States is being cut to ribbons,What was I thinking?..More homeless of course.
posted on January 23, 2003 03:17:19 PM new
Around here,If someone is in a care home or State home..They have to be there,24 hour care,These people cant do anything.We have programs, for the retarded, and disabled,and they are thriving.To release the others now,Is a type of death sentence.
posted on January 23, 2003 04:07:24 PM new
You only have to look to Oregon for the future if this new effort holds onto its intended course. Recall that movie, "One Flew Over The Cucoos Nest"? That was the real state mental hospital here in Oregon. Ten years ago, Oregon Voters heard the same story and were convinced by the same arguements. The results were what the critics said it would be:
- patients who NEED in-patient care would be left to fend for themselves. Ever see a catatonic sitting in a sleasy motel lobby being used as a coat rack?
- patients who needed someone to hand them their medication no longer had that help and stopped taking their medications.
The end result was that many were turned back out onto the streets, as landlords are not an adequate replacement for ward nurses and mental health doctors. The first winter, most were killed off due to hypothermia. Within several winters, even the most lucky former patient got a John Doe grave.
We murdered them.
Today, if you are mentally ill and do not have anyone to look after you and you need to be hospitalized, make sure you have the insurance for it! Even then, you'll be lucky to get anywhere near the care that the state used to provide. Many mentally ill patients are warehoused in open dorms and large wards where a minimum of staff can keep track of them. And if you don't have money and you don't have the insurance or the family, then there's always next winter coming to take care of you.
It is about to become a National Shame -- one in which History will be unforgiving. We will be the Murderers who thoght more about Profits than taking care of those less fortunate than us.
posted on January 23, 2003 06:52:35 PM new
The state hospitals around here are pretty full, and one will possibly be closed. Street, dead, or jail. These people are in such bad shape that group homes are not a realistic option. And that's not even counting the people in the forensic units.
You have the right to an informed opinion -Harlan Ellison
posted on January 23, 2003 07:22:12 PM new "We didn't do it for the reason of saving money, but in the long run helping people stay in their homes, in particular, is a win-win for everybody," said one official. "That is what individuals prefer."
More bushshit.
How can he justify throwing old feeble people out of nursing homes. That is just disgraceful.
posted on January 23, 2003 07:53:34 PM new
Round the clock nursing care in one's own home is very costly, unless they are planning to put the elderly in group homes with one person as caregiver. The group homes I'm familiar with weren't for the elderly, but there were problems that would be encountered with elder care in such places. Add in the medical problems, and it would be worse than the nursing homes, and with less regulation.
You have the right to an informed opinion -Harlan Ellison
posted on January 24, 2003 06:29:51 AM new
HHitler had a policy for the mentally ill and physical challenged. Seemed to work for Germany. By the end of the war .. they were no longer a problem. (sarcasm, Please don't go off the deep end)
New York State closed most, if not all the mental institutes in the early 70's (may have been a little before). Now we have the walking dead every place. Homeless mentally ill people freezing in alley ways committing crimes, both minor and major. We freed them for their own good or was it for our misplaced ideals. Who is being hurt more. If they have to be warehoused, so be it. A warm dry place to sleep and three hots is better than the freedom of freezing to death. When I use the word "free" I won't how anyone that is really mentally ill would know. Freedom is just wanting to be left alone. Is that a right for someone that can't take care of themselves?
Amen,
Reverend Colin
