Report: State Hospital improves
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By Daniel Barlow Vermont Press Bureau - Published: January 15, 2009
MONTPELIER – Conditions at the Vermont State Hospital continued to improve during the second half of 2008, although there are still some areas of concern, a new report by the U.S. Department of Justice found.
The Waterbury facility that houses Vermont's most extreme cases of mental illness and substance abuse has been under the watchful eye of the Justice Department since 2006, when federal officials discovered numerous civil rights violations there.
Since then, doctors working for the Justice Department have made twice-annual visits to the facility under an agreement worked out with the state. Wednesday's report on improved conditions there was the fifth in two years.
"The staff of [the Vermont State Hospital] at all levels should be most pleased with the improvements their efforts have yielded to date," the report concludes. "As our report indicates, there remains much to be done, but (the Vermont State Hospital) appears well on its way."
This was the second report in a row from the Justice Department that found the State Hospital was in compliance with all of the federal government's recommendations – both in how the hospital treats patients and manages its system – for improvement.
The 72-page report shows that the State Hospital was in "significant compliance" for 85 percent of the recommendations in nine different areas of concern. The report noted some minor problems continuing at the facility, including informing patients of the purposes and side effects of some medications.
Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hartman said the latest report puts the State Hospital on track to meet all the Justice Department goals by the end of the four-year agreement, of which the state is now in the second year.
The two highest levels of compliance under the Justice Department review are "substantial improvement" and "sustained improvement," and Hartman believes that the State Hospital is nearing the point where it will progress to "sustained."
The hospital needs two reports in a row that found substantial improvements to reached the sustained level, he added.
"There are always going to be some errors," he said. "But what has changed is that when there is an error, it is a human one and not because of our system."
The review by the Justice Department – which avoided legal action taken against the state and the facility – is separate from another on-going effort by the State Hospital to regain its federal certification. Without that certification, the hospital can not receive federal funding, costing Vermont millions of dollars each year.
In other mental health news:
Hartman said the department first needs to see if there is space for their offices in Waterbury, but he added that logistically it makes sense to have the department and its staff there. It would also reduce the travel budget for the department, he added.
The Mental Health Department was located in Waterbury for years, but was moved to Burlington when the department was folded into the Vermont Department of Health. Two years ago, the department became its own separate state governement entity again.
"This was just proposed a week and a half ago," Hartman said Wednesday. "We're considering it."
Contact Daniel Barlow at Daniel.Barlow@timesargus.com.