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Director's Message
September 24, 2004
To: DHS Employees
From: Gary Weeks, Director
Helping Patients Every Day
Every day of the year, dozens of hard-working and dedicated Oregon Department of Human Services employees at the Oregon State Hospitals serve thousands of Oregonians with serious mental illness.
Those who work there know of the little-told stories that happen around the clock at institutions like Oregon's -- stories about patients they have helped.
For example:
- Staff from the state hospital helped stabilize a young woman who was admitted for treatment of psychotic symptoms. Due to her psychotic state, she reverted to her first language and required interpretive services. After treatment and services at the state hospital, she was stabilized and able to return to her home and family.
- A teen - who suddenly became extremely aggressive toward a family member - was treated by staff at the state hospital for what initially appeared to be depression. The teen was later diagnosed with psychotic symptoms. Staff at the state hospital were able to treat the adolescent with individualized therapy and medication, successfully discharging the young adult to a residential treatment program.
- A 15-year-old girl with learning disabilities and speech/language problems was admitted to the hospital due to repetitive behavior and auditory hallucinations. She had been suspended from her special education program. Staff at the state hospital were able to help her, treating her various disorders, and she was successfully moved into a residential treatment setting.
Thousands of patients like these have been successfully treated at the Oregon State Hospitals -- with campuses in Salem, Portland, and Pendleton -- even though their stories aren't often told.
Instead, this past week, the hospital came under scrutiny due a report detailing events from 10 to 15 years ago. Make no mistake about it; the abuse that happened was deplorable. In the cases cited, the Oregon State Hospital did not fulfill its most fundamental responsibility of protecting vulnerable people. The department will not tolerate this behavior from any member of its staff. It is our responsibility to ensure that no other patient or client experiences such treatment.
Hospital has changed considerably
But the state hospital has changed considerably from the late 1980s and early 1990s.
A large number of reforms have taken place there, including:
- criminal history checks for all new employees, repeated with every change in position;
- focused and aggressive training of staff regarding abuse reporting;
- drastic reductions in seclusion and restraint, so as to avoid unnecessary touching of patients;
- increased staffing and a collaborative approach in the Office of Investigations and Training;
- new administrative rules to govern the process of investigations and the timetable for the completion of those investigations;
- standard state hospital processes for reporting child abuse allegations to the Oregon State Police;
- biennial reevaluation of the hospital's policy and procedures regarding abuse and reporting;
- elimination of physical contact with patients except under specific prescribed conditions;
- reduction in the population of children in the state hospital by over two-thirds - only 17 adolescents are in the hospital today;
- increased staff-to-patient ratios; and
- ongoing quality improvement processes regarding abuse investigations and frequency of reporting.
Our staff and other mental health professionals involved in instituting these reforms believe they have made a huge difference in the way the state hospital operates, including how abuse is reported, dealt with, and followed up on. State hospital officials have indicated, due in part to these changes, there have been no substantiated reports of children being abused in the hospital for the past 10 years.
As you know, the Governor has acknowledged that changes have been made. As a result of this week's events, he has also asked us to present him with a report in 30 days detailing the changes and providing additional information on abuse reports dating back to 1992. We have already begun to develop the information the Governor requested. If it is found that additional improvements need to be made, the department will make them.
But you and I both know that the hard work occurring daily at the state hospital is not likely to get the media headlines, the glare of publicity, or the pronouncements and proclamations.
Those efforts are just a regular part of what our dedicated staff at the state hospitals do -- hour after hour, day after day -- making a difference in the lives of some of the most forgotten people in our society.
The success that routinely occurs has been summed up best by one of the leaders of the state hospital, when a patient is officially discharged. "We know we've done our job well, if we never see the person again."
What can we all learn from this?
Whatever part of DHS you work in - whether it is one of the state hospitals, in community programs, central office administration, public health, serving children, adults and families directly in communities, working with seniors and people with disabilities or elsewhere in the department - we share a common standard.
We have to be very sensitive to the people we serve and conduct ourselves above reproach in everything we do - be it reality or perception. The public will continue to hold us to the highest standard because of the nature of our work. We are also ambassadors for the agency and the hard work that all of us do.
Our work touches the lives of Oregonians all over the state. The attention focused recently on the state hospital is a reminder to all of us that not only is our work important, it will be scrutinized for some time, as was the case this week.
Whether you work at the state hospital or out in the community, we can never forget that all of us are stewards of the public trust.
Food for thought
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."
Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)
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This message is intended for all Department employees. Please read it electronically, if possible. Managers and supervisors are asked to share the message each week with employees who do not have email access.
If you have a disability and need a document on this Web site to be provided to you in another format, please send an email to dhs.forms@state.or.us or call (503) 945-7021, fax (503) 373-7690 or TTY (503) 947-5080. If you know of others who need this accommodation, please let them know it is available.
Oregon Department of Human Services
Director's Office
500 Summer St. NE E15, Salem, OR 97301-1097
Phone: (503) 945-5944
Fax: (503) 378-2897
TTY: (503) 947-6214
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