Monday, August 08, 2005

Congress to Consider Major Medicaid Changes in September, Grassroots Advocacy Campaign Needed During Congressional Recess Action Alert at the NAMI web site - " This week the House and Senate began a month long summer recess, during which members of Congress will be in their states and districts across the country. One of the major issues Congress will confront upon their return to work in September is how to reduce future Medicaid expenditures by $10 billion over the next five years. These reductions to Medicaid will be considered as a part of a massive budget 'reconciliation' measure that Congress is supposed to complete sometime in the fall. This "reconciliation" legislation will include a number of programmatic changes to Medicaid that could have an enormous impact on beneficiaries (both children and adults) living with mental illness. NAMI is very concerned that these reductions to Medicaid do not adversely impact on access to treatment support services for Medicaid beneficiaries living with mental illness."  
  

FDA Responds to Criticism With New Caution August 6 New York Times article - "Stung by a series of drug safety scandals, the Food and Drug Administration has in recent months issued a blizzard of drug-safety warnings and approval times for new drugs are slower. The agency is issuing twice the number of public advisories about drug risks as it did a year ago and adding five times as many black box warnings - its most serious alert - to drug labels. And drugs approved in the first half of this year took almost twice as long to get that approval as drugs approved in the same period last year. This new conservatism, a response to fierce recent criticism from Congress that the F.D.A. has failed to protect the public against drug dangers, has upset some doctors and drug makers..." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Data Behind Antidepressant Advisory Don't Give Clear-Cut Answers  Psychiatric News story - "The FDA's most recent public health advisory regarding antidepressants appears to have been based on seemingly contradictory studies published earlier this year. The FDA's June 30 public health advisory concerning antidepressants was prompted, the advisory said, by 'several recent scientific publications' that suggested 'the possibility of an increased risk for suicidal behavior in adults who are being treated with antidepressant medications.' FDA spokesperson Christine Parker told Psychiatric News that the advisory was prompted by 'two papers of particular interest.' Both appeared in the February 19 BMJ..." See also abstracts of the BMJ studies.  
  

FDA Alert Covers Cymbalta  Psychiatric News story - "In conjunction with its release of the public health advisory regarding increased risk of suicide in adults taking antidepressants, the FDA issued a separate FDA Alert involving duloxetine (Cymbalta) and suicidality in pediatric and adult patients. The alert largely echoes the language of the advisory, noting that the FDA is 'highlighting that adults being treated with any type of antidepressant medication, particularly those being treated for depression, should be watched closely for worsening of depression and for increased suicidal thinking or behavior.' "  
  

Texas Health Official Explains Effort To End Mental Illness Stigma  Psychiatric News story - "Deep in the heart of Texas, NAMI members learn about several new initiatives on destigmatization and prevention of mental illness for those living in the state. Government officials in Texas, the state that hosted the 2005 annual conference of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), are setting an example for other states by taking steps to eliminate the stigma that surrounds mental illness. Part of their focus will be on implementing strategies for preventing mental illness in those at risk for these disorders."  
  

Quarter of Prop. 36 drug offenders complete treatment, UCLA finds (California) AP story at the Mercury News - "About a quarter of drug offenders diverted from prison completed their alternative treatment under a program approved by California voters nearly five years ago, with results similar to other treatment programs, according to a UCLA study released Monday. The results of the third year of independent tracking of offenders sentenced under Proposition 36 came as lawmakers debate renewing funding for the program and whether to allow judges to incarcerate offenders who refuse treatment or keep abusing drugs. Proposition 36, approved by 61 percent of voters in November 2000, requires that first-and second-time nonviolent drug offenders be sent to treatment programs instead of prison."  
  

Minorities less likely to seek mental health help: local therapists cite reasons, solutions (Arkansas) Northwest Arkansas Times story - "... Donna Van Kirk, a licensed psychologist for the Behavior Therapy & Counseling Clinic in Fayetteville, said minorities are "certainly underrepresented compared to the white population" in terms of how many seek treatment from a mental health professional. The Surgeon General’s report, a supplement on mental health issued in 1999 and drawn from numerous scientific studies, said that once differences in income and background are accounted for, minorities and whites suffer equally from mental disorders but still do not seek treatment in the same percentages. There are a variety of reasons minorities are less likely to get the mental health treatment they need, said Van Kirk, who also serves as secretary for Psychologists of Northwest Arkansas. "  
  

Latino Behavioral Health Institute to Present Eleventh Annual Conference Prime Zone press release - "Latino Behavioral Health Institute (LBHI), one of the nation's largest non-profit organizations dedicated to eliminating discrimination against Latinos in need of behavioral health services and health care, will present its eleventh annual international conference, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 20 -- 22, at the Universal Hilton Hotel in Universal City, Calif. Themed, 'Transformation: Towards Access and Quality in Latino Behavioral Health,' the event will address contemporary issues of policy, training, research, clinical practice and education related to Latino mental health, substance abuse, health and human services. Approximately 1,000 behavioral health professionals from the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico and South American countries are expected to attend."  
  

APA Launches College Mental Health Initiative Medical News Today story - "Across the USA, students are preparing to start or return to college. This is an exciting time, though for some it's overwhelming and stressful. Depression, substance use and eating disorders are increasingly common mental health issues on college campuses. According to a recent survey, nearly half of all college students report feeling so depressed that they had trouble functioning, and 15 percent meet the criteria for clinical depression. Untreated depression can lead to suicide, which is the second leading cause of death of college students..."  
  

 Sunday, August 07, 2005

Court clarifies TennCare questions (Tennessee) Story in The Tennessean - "Issuing a new order outlining what the state can and cannot do to limit TennCare benefits, a federal judge said officials now have all the information they need to decide whether about 97,000 sick people can stay in the program. State officials said last night they were encouraged by U.S. District Judge John Nixon's ruling, but remained noncommittal."  
  

Wall Street Journal Examines Eli Lilly's Tactics To Persuade Physicians To Prescribe Antidepressant Cymbalta Item in the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Review - "The Wall Street Journal on Friday examined how pharmaceutical companies' contracts with insurers and medical organizations to sell their drugs sometimes restrict 'unflattering statements about the costs and risks of drugs when they communicate with health practitioners.' For example, Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly offers health facilities a 5% discount for the antidepressant Cymbalta, but the contract states that most of the discount could be revoked if the facility engages in certain actions, including 'negative [drug utilization review] correspondence to physicians.' A drug utilization review is a type of analysis of prescription patterns often used by insurers to identify risky or inappropriate practices and to reduce expenses. Pharmaceutical industry officials have said that insurers or other groups could use DURs to encourage doctors to use lower-cost drugs that might not be as effective. The Cymbalta contract also restricts 'negative educational counterdetailing,' a practice often used by insurers to counterbalance a drug maker's sales pitch to doctors that can focus on recommending generic drugs."  
  

State plans new mental health hospital in Fergus (Minnesota) Fergus Falls Daily Journal story - "The state is readying plans to move out of the Regional Treatment Center -- by readying plans to build a new mental health hospital in Fergus Falls. The 16-bed community behavioral health hospital will be located on about 2.5 to 3.2 acres of land at the intersection of County Roads 1 and 15, just past Alcott Avenue in Fergus Falls, according to Kent Mattson, an attorney who is coordinating the RTC reuse process. Mattson said that construction of the estimated $3.4 million facility, which has been nearly three years in the making, is anticipated to begin in late September or early October and be completed by May 1, 2006."  
  

Veto worries local mental health care providers, clients (Texas) Fort Worth Star-Telegram story focusing on Paradise, a Fort Worth community center - "Paradise Center is threatened by Gov. Rick Perry's veto of a bill designed to retain local control of mental health dollars. ...The bill Perry vetoed would have slowed the transfer of decision-making ability from the state's local mental health/mental retardation centers to Austin bureaucrats. Local mental health care providers fear that groups like Paradise will be less likely to get funding from Austin than they are from the local MHMR offices. They also worry that local government won't continue to fund programs because the money would first go to regional or statewide offices instead of staying at home. Some local mental health providers could close, and others could face substantial funding cuts, said Jim McDermott, executive director of MHMR of Tarrant County. In the Fort Worth area, $24 million administered by McDermott's organization could revert to the state for distribution. MHMR centers statewide could lose more than $150 million."  
  

Mental Health Issues: The Impact of Explosive Growth (Nevada) Red Nova story on the growing need for services in Nevada - "Both private and public juvenile service providers cannot keep up with demand. Hospitals are often on divert status as a result of too many mental health patients taking up emergency room beds, resulting from too few psychiatric facilities being available to meet their needs. One-third of emergency-room beds and one-fifth of detention beds are occupied by mental health patients. And more than one-tenth of the prison beds are also occupied by mental health patients. Sound familiar? Welcome to the criminal justice system in southern Nevada. And that system is feeling the pinch of this growth in a major way. Law enforcement, the courts, prisons and all their related services, have felt the need to evaluate their roles and examine the scope of their duties in order to focus their efforts in fulfilling their respective and collective responsibilities. Legislative changes as the state has matured have impacted law enforcement, corrections and everything in between. "  
  

 Friday, August 05, 2005

One-Third of the Estimated 8.4M Uninsured Children Go Without Medical Care for Entire Year, Despite Eligibility for Public Health Insurance, Report Says Item in the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report - "The number of uninsured U.S. children decreased by about two million to 8.4 million between 1998 and 2003, and 70% of the uninsured qualified for public health insurance programs such as Medicaid or SCHIP but were not enrolled, according to a study released on Tuesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CQ HealthBeat reports. According to the report, released as part of the sixth annual RWJF Covering Kids and Families Back to School Campaign, 20% of Latino children lacked health insurance, compared with 9% of black children and 6% of white children... "  
  

 Thursday, August 04, 2005

Leavitt Praises Governors on Medicaid  AP story in the Las Vegas Sun - "The nation's governors likely will play an influential role in federal efforts to slow the growth of Medicaid, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said. Leavitt has appointed a commission that will recommend to Congress short- and long-term changes to the program, which serves about 52 million Americans. The commission's first report is due Sept. 1. It will focus on ways to slow the health insurance program's growth by $10 billion over the next five years. The commission just had its first meeting last week, raising the question of how extensive a review it can accomplish. Leavitt said in an interview Tuesday with Associated Press reporters and editors that governors have had some of the answers for a long time. .."  
  

Mental health reform back in limbo (Maine) Morning Sentinel story - "State efforts to lift a 15-year-old consent decree governing much of Maine's mental health system suffered a blow this week when a court official rejected important portions of a state reform plan. Court Master Daniel E. Wathen also approved some parts of the plan put forward by Maine Department of Health and Human Services officials in June after the Maine Supreme Court rejected Superior Court Justice Nancy D. Mills' plans to takeover some parts of the state mental health system."  
  

Mental Health of War Survivors Ivanhoe Newswire story - "War has exposed millions of people to psychological trauma. While impunity for those responsible for the trauma is thought to be associated with the mental problems of survivors of violence, a new study finds other fears may play a role as well. The study could have important implications for determining effective intervention for traumatized war survivors in postwar countries."  
  

Northeast Health to acquire Mid-Coast (Maine) Bangor Daily News story - "The nonprofit health care umbrella company Northeast Health Inc. will take over Mid-Coast Mental Health, officials from both organizations announced Tuesday. Northeast Health runs Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport, Kno-Wal-Lin Home Care and Hospice, Penobscot Bay Physicians & Associates, Quarry Hill and the Knox Center for Long-Term Care. Mid-Coast Mental Health runs outpatient and residential mental health treatment and services in nine offices and residential sites in Knox and Waldo counties."  
  

Governor appoints John Houston mental health commissioner (Alabama) Brief Dateline Alabama story - "Gov. Bob Riley selected John Houston, a veteran employee of the state mental health agency, to become its commissioner Thursday. Houston replaces Kathy Sawyer, who retired Feb. 1 after serving 28 years with the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. Houston had served as acting commissioner since Sawyer's retirement..."  
  

 Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Terrorism, Mental Health, and September 11  44-page report in PDF format from the Century Foundation that "examines how post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) extended far beyond the New York population directly exposed to the September 11 attacks. Television coverage brought the disaster to a much larger audience and caused full-blown and sub-syndromal cases of PTSD throughout the nation. The report recommends increasing training for PTSD diagnosis and treatment so that primary care physicians are able to refer or assist patients suffering from the disorder. "  
  

Including behavior in health-disparities legislation APA Monitor story - "Although the adverse effects of behaviors such as limited physical activity, poor nutrition and alcohol and tobacco consumption are widely recognized as precipitators of stroke, lung disease, diabetes and other such diseases, the rising prevalence of these behaviors is still cause for national concern. As a result, psychologists have been developing effective evidence-based interventions to help modify these behavioral risk factors. APA's Public Policy Office (PPO) has been working to inform Congress and key federal health agencies of these interventions and emerging best practices in hopes that they reach more citizens to improve the nation's health status and lower the cost that unhealthy behavior inflicts on society."  
  

VA psychology conference advocates for new veterans' mental health APA Monitor story - " At the eighth annual Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Psychology Leadership Conference, April 29–30 in Dallas, VA psychologists and top VA and APA officials met to discuss ways to promote improved psychological services for veterans, including those who have served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Illustrating this year's conference theme, "Strong leadership in uncertain times," top officials including VA Deputy Secretary Gordon Mansfield and VA Under Secretary for Health Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD--who received word while at the convention that the Senate confirmed him for a four-year term in the position--discussed mental health care's future at the VA..."  
  

Mentally ill more likely victim than perp Science Daily story - "A Northwestern University study indicates severely mentally ill people are more likely victims rather than perpetrators of violence. Researchers at the university's Feinberg School of Medicine say more than one-fourth of individuals with severe mental illness were victims of violent crime during 2004 -- a rate nearly 12 times that of the general population. Depending on the type of violent crime, prevalence was six to 23 times greater among people with severe mental illness than among the general population, said lead author Linda Teplin, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Feinberg..."  
  

Mental health agencies working on proposals to privatize state hospital (Indiana) Madison Courier story - "Two mental health agencies are putting together proposals for turning over Madison State Hospital to private ownership. Terry Stawar, president and chief executive officer of LifeSpring Inc. in Jeffersonville, said he is forming a coalition of elected officials, business leaders and other nonprofits to run MSH. LifeSpring is the hospital’s largest single client, Stawar said, with 35 beds allocated to its customers. Another group is being led by Quinco Behavioral Health Systems of Columbus. Richard Williams, president and CEO of Quinco, said his agency is forming a partnership with the mental health center in Bloomington and a similar entity in Indianapolis."  
  

Geriatic pyschiatry grant recognizes growing mental health needs of seniors Medical News Today story - "The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has made a $984,000 grant to the University of Rochester Medical Center to support the training of physician scientists for research careers in geriatric mental health. 'America is aging, at least one third of older people suffer from a mental disorder, and yet we have a critical, nationwide shortage of researchers trained in geriatric mental health,' said Jeffrey M. Lyness, M.D., director of the Program in Geriatrics and Neuropsychiatry at the medical center. 'Mental health problems like depression and dementias cause as much suffering as common medical conditions like heart disease and cancer, and we urgently need more researchers to identify fundamental disease mechanisms and develop the treatments of the future.' "  
  

Costly gap remains in mental health bills Op-ed column in the Raleigh News & Observer - "Medicare covers practically all other health care more generously than it covers outpatient mental health. It pays 80 percent of the cost of an outpatient doctor's visit if the visit isn't related to mental health, leaving only 20 percent for the patient to pay. Inpatient care is covered more fully still, with the patient paying a relatively small deductible after which Medicare picks up the whole tab, regardless of whether the patient is hospitalized for general medical or psychiatric causes."  
  

Mental health issues (Mississippi) Daily Journal editorial - "Mental health remains one of the most nettlesome issues in the laps of local and state governments. The available money - almost $500 million, including federal funds, in fiscal year 2006 - doesn't keep pace with the need for state-funded beds, state-paid, certified therapists/counselors, or funding for crisis centers established by the state. State funding actually has decreased by $30 million since 2000..."  
  

 Monday, August 01, 2005

Dual Eligibles: Medicaid’s Role for Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries Fact sheet (in PDF format) from the Kaiser Family Foundation - "This fact sheet describes the over 7.5 million 'dual eligibles,' the low-income elderly and persons with disabilities who are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, why this population needs Medicaid, what services they receive from Medicaid, and the current policy challenges related to dual eligibles, including the new Medicare prescription drug benefit."  
  

Mental health courts require access to effective community mental health services  Item in CMHA/Ontario Mental Health Notes - "People who were diverted through a mental health court did not experience reductions in psychiatric symptoms, suggesting the need for more effective and adequate community mental health services, according to a recent study in Psychiatric Services. According to the authors, a variety of studies have demonstrated that diverting defendants with mental illness from the criminal justice system into mental health treatment result in increased access to treatment and better quality of life. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the increased access to mental health services achieved through diversion resulted in improved clinical outcomes for defendants with mental illness."  
  

Homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse increase incarceration time  Item in CMHA/Ontario's Mental Health Notes based on an article in the July Psychiatric Services - " A study published in Psychiatric Services suggests that individuals who are homeless and have severe mental disorders with co-occurring substance-related disorders stay longer in jail than others charged with similar crimes. This study was designed to assess the relationships between homelessness, mental disorder and amount of time spent incarcerated..."  
  

Premiums for the Poor Washington Post editorial - "The notion of asking Medicaid recipients to pay more toward their health care has a lot of intuitive appeal. Rapidly growing costs for the health care program for the poor are straining state budgets across the country, as well as the federal government's. In private insurance programs, co-payments, deductibles and other cost-sharing mechanisms have helped make patients more informed and cost-conscious consumers. It's not surprising, then, that the nation's governors are pressing for more flexibility to require Medicaid recipients to pay more for their care as well. But the evidence from states that have adopted such cost-cutting measures suggests that any changes should be made only with extreme caution. Those considering changes in the program must make certain that the payments -- even if they don't appear burdensome -- don't prevent recipients from getting needed services and don't backfire by resulting in more expensive emergency room and hospital care."  
  

Ruling leaves fate of sickest TennCare enrollees uncertain (Tennessee) Story in The Tennessean - "A federal judge's ruling yesterday afternoon leaves unclear what will happen to about 97,000 of the sickest TennCare enrollees who are due to lose access to state-paid prescription-drug coverage come Monday. Saying he was ruling as quickly as possible before those changes are to take effect, U.S. District Judge John Nixon gave the go-ahead to part of the state's plans to enact cost-saving drug-management tools. State officials have said those tools are key to overhauling TennCare — and sparing 97,000 people from cuts. However, Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz said last night that he was unsure whether yesterday's partial ruling will help avert the changes to come for the "medically needy" — a special category of TennCare enrollees whom Gov. Phil Bredesen has said are the sickest people on the program."  
  

 Sunday, July 31, 2005

House Passes Association Health Plan Legislation; Proposal Would Weaken State Mental Illness Insurance Parity Laws Alert at the NAMI web site - "On July 26, the House cleared legislation vastly expanding multi-employer Association Health Plans (AHPs) and potentially undermining existing state laws that require health plans to cover treatment for mental illness on the same terms and conditions as all other illnesses – commonly referred to as parity. The vote was 263-165. This proposal (HR 525) would significantly expand the scope of a federal law (known as ERISA), that exempts self-insured employer health plans from state regulation. By expanding ERISA, HR 525 would encourage employers that currently offer health plans for their workers (and their families) to switch away from coverage that meets a parity standard, i.e. plans that cover mental illnesses the same as all other illnesses..."  
  

2003 Survey Found Teens Hear Prevention Messages SAMHSA press release - "The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today released data showing that youth who reported seeing or hearing media messages on preventing drug and alcohol use are significantly less likely to report substance use. While 10.3 percent of youths who reported seeing or hearing media prevention messages in the past year reported binge alcohol use in the past month, 12.5 percent of youth who were not exposed to media prevention messages engaged in binge drinking. Similarly, 10.8 percent of youth who saw or heard media prevention messages reported past month illicit drug use compared to 13.7 percent who received no messages. In 2003, 83.6 percent of youth (20.8 million) reported seeing or hearing an alcohol or drug prevention message. SAMHSA extracted the data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2003, which asked youth ages 12-17 if they had seen or heard any alcohol or drug prevention messages from posters, pamphlets, radio, TV or other sources. The survey also asked about alcohol and drug use." See also the full report (in HTML and PDF formats) and related resources at the OAS site.  
  

Clinical Support System Available to Assist Physicians who Treat Patients Dependent on Opiates  SAMHSA press release - "The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced the availability of the Physician Clinical Support System (PCSS) to assist physicians who prescribe or dispense buprenorphine to their patients dependent on heroin or prescription drugs containing opiates. SAMHSA, in collaboration with the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and other specialty addiction medicine, psychiatric, pain and general medicine societies, created the support system to assist physicians in the appropriate use of buprenorphine, and to promote improved patient care, research and education."  
  

Critics blast veterans' mental health care Science Daily story - "Several Members of Congress blasted the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Pentagon this week, saying the agencies not doing enough to aid soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder. 'All I hear is we're doing everything right. All I hear is everything's fine. Everything's not fine - we have suicides,' Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., told a panel of witnesses from the VA and the Army at hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday. He went on to call government claims about proactive treatment of PTSD in soldiers 'demonstrably false' ..."  
  

Pitt County Mental Health gets state's nod with plan (North Carolina) Story at The Reflector - "The state recently recognized Pitt County Mental Health for its success in creating a new mental health network in the community. Along with other mental health agencies in the state, Pitt Mental Health has switched from being a service provider to being a local management entity, coordinating care for the county's mentally ill, developmentally disabled and substance abusers. The change came as the result of a state law passed in 2001. In a report released by the North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, Pitt County Mental Health scored second highest among 32 programs in the state for its overall performance. Two entities tied for first – Foothills Area Program in the western part of the state and Sandhills Center in the middle of the state. "  
  

Lawmakers finish with mental health insurance parity bill (Oregon) AP story at OregonLive.com - "Oregon is close to joining 35 other states that require health insurers to provide mental health coverage on equal terms with coverage for physical illness. The House voted 59-1 Saturday for a Senate-passed mental health insurance parity bill. The measure goes to Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who supports it..."  
  

New rules aimed at cutting Louisiana mental health costs Story at Dateline Alabama - "The state health department has instituted new rules aimed at cutting costs and improving service in Louisiana's mental health rehabilitation program. The program provides therapy and other services for more than 7,000 adults and children with mental illness and emotional problems. The rules, which take effect Monday, will change the way private service providers are paid for treating Medicaid patients, who make up the overwhelming majority of people receiving services."  
  

State Faults U.S. Report on 2 Mental Hospitals (California) LA Times story - "A standoff between the U.S. Justice Department and the California mental health department escalated late last week, as a key state official accused federal regulators of unfairly exaggerating problems at two of the four major state-run mental hospitals. Stephen W. Mayberg, director of the California Department of Mental Health, said in an interview Friday that he was surprised when the Justice Department posted a report on an investigation of Napa State Hospital on its website last week that included wide-ranging allegations of improper care at the 1,146-patient hospital ... The report alleged that suicidal patients were not receiving prompt intervention, that patients didn't get prompt medical or psychiatric care, and that employees were dealing drugs to patients." [Viewing Los Angeles Times stories requires registration, which is free]. See also Report Criticizes Calif. Mental Hospital (Washington Post) - "Patients at a state mental hospital overdosed on illegal drugs, were improperly restrained for hours on end and were forced to spend 12 hours in soiled diapers, according to a scathing report issued by the U.S. Justice Department. The report said the problems were among 'widespread and systematic deficiencies' at Napa State Hospital, including suicide and inadequate medical care. ... State officials were given until Aug. 15 to implement 'minimum remedial measures' at the mental hospital, which has about 1,100 patients." [Viewing Washington Post stories requires registration, which is free.]  
  

Mental Health Hospital Often Over Capacity (Oklahoma) Brief KOTV story - "Fifteen additional staff members have been hired to deal with overcrowding at the state's only public mental health hospital. Mental health Commissioner Terry Cline says the overcrowding at Griffin Memorial Hospital in Norman could be due to cutbacks in community services several years ago. A new state law that prohibits mentally ill patients accused of crimes from staying at certain hospitals is also a factor..."