Post by Logan on Jan 25, 2016 14:08:52 GMT -6
RI's state mental health advocate: Safety net not sustainable amid psychiatrist shortage
CRANSTON, R.I. – The continuing shortage of staff psychiatrists at the state-run Eleanor Slater Hospital has left Mental Health Advocate Megan N. Clingham increasingly concerned that patients are not receiving proper treatment and care.
She is turning for solutions, in part, to the General Assembly, which is considering reform of Rhode Island’s larger – and troubled – mental-health system.
“The state hospital is the institution of last resort for people who need treatment,” Clingham said in an interview Monday. “I’m concerned that if the state hospital is no longer viable we will not have that safety net, the responsibility the state has for a place of last resort for the people that need it most. I’m concerned that it’s not sustainable the way it’s going now.”
Maria Montanaro, head of the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, which operates Slater, has said that ending the shortage of psychiatric staff is a priority. Last year’s hiring of nationally recognized psychiatrist Dr. Elinore F. McCance-Katz as chief medical officer for BHDDH was a major step, she has said.
Continued at www.providencejournal.com/news/20160125/ris-state-mental-health-advocate-safety-net-not-sustainable-amid-psychiatrist-shortage .
CRANSTON, R.I. – The continuing shortage of staff psychiatrists at the state-run Eleanor Slater Hospital has left Mental Health Advocate Megan N. Clingham increasingly concerned that patients are not receiving proper treatment and care.
She is turning for solutions, in part, to the General Assembly, which is considering reform of Rhode Island’s larger – and troubled – mental-health system.
“The state hospital is the institution of last resort for people who need treatment,” Clingham said in an interview Monday. “I’m concerned that if the state hospital is no longer viable we will not have that safety net, the responsibility the state has for a place of last resort for the people that need it most. I’m concerned that it’s not sustainable the way it’s going now.”
Maria Montanaro, head of the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, which operates Slater, has said that ending the shortage of psychiatric staff is a priority. Last year’s hiring of nationally recognized psychiatrist Dr. Elinore F. McCance-Katz as chief medical officer for BHDDH was a major step, she has said.
Continued at www.providencejournal.com/news/20160125/ris-state-mental-health-advocate-safety-net-not-sustainable-amid-psychiatrist-shortage .