Adolescent Psych at St. Mary's (SF): Be afraid

Adolescent Psych at St. Mary's (SF): Be afraid < insider-moretocome > 11/17 21:12:00

this thread describes persistent systematic problems which lead to dangerous lapses in quality of care at St. Mary's ("McAuley Institute") adolescent psych unit*.

On the other hand, if you want your child to be warehoused in a unit where they are at risk from the following, have at it...




the unit nursing director has an alcohol problem (and talks openly on the unit about coming in on call after heavy drinking sessions).....

an elderly psychiatrist with obvious age-related cognitive impairment decides in "team meetings" what medication he will prescribe to adolescents before he has ever seen them, much less diagnosed them....

critical arrangements for post-discharge care (outpatient care) are ignored or simply not done...the "case manager" repsonsible for this crucial duty may often be seen at the nurses' station staring into space, eyes glazed...perhaps exhausted from her other job - as sales staff at a department store

patients go undiagnosed: the psychology interns used to provide essential diagnostic tests ("neuropsych testing"). The psych internship program was cancelled by the St. Mary's CEO (he has no clinical training or experience - his previous work experience was in contracts) by the summer of 2004. Patients admitted since then who required neuropsych testing have often gone without. This is the psychiatric equvialent of assessing head trauma without cat scans: people die.




[* The unit is one of the two clinical services which Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) uses as a figleaf to justify their non-profit status.]