Mental Anguish at Texas West Oaks Hospital

Well I don't know if County Judge Ed Emmett and Dr. Santos are from the same planet but several years ago Dr. Santos was my doctor while I had a short stay at West Oaks. He is certainly prescription happy, so prescrition happy that I had liver toxicity from all the un-needed meds he had me on. It is sad that the "good ole' boys Club still exists even in the medical field.

Ouch. There are a lot of people out there that give doctors a bad name. Unfortunately, they tend to be the only doctors that the poor or middle class can afford. Caveat emptor, I'm afraid.

So Attorney Guidry wants to sue someone because the hand Fredrick Williams used to beat Mario to death was broken? You go, boyeeee!!! How dare West Oaks not equip Mr. Williams properly . . . say, a baseball bat, brass knuckles, or maybe a shotgun. And how dare Mario's 'multiple rib fractures, laceration of the heart and injuries to his intestines, back, abdomen, chest, wrist, face, neck, buttocks, shoulders, both forearms and both knees' break Mr. Williams hand. He should sue Mario's family also, for wrongful fracture. It seems Mario was overkilled, Fredrick Williams is evil, and his attorney is retarded. Got a little cut on your head, Freddy? I didn't see any mention of stitches, nor an explanation of how an unarmed patient caused the injury. Self-defense my ass - Fredrick Williams is a murderer and a sissy. He wouldn't have taken a patient that could have killed him into that death box.

It is unfortunate that our mental health system is set up so that administrators are well compensated while the persons who actually care for mental patients are underpaid, overworked and do not receive adequate training.

Why is it that facilities are allowed to stay open and provide care for patients even after they receive multiple citations? Texas should be ashamed of itself for the care it is providing for children in juvenile detention centers, mental health facilities and state schools. More and more there are news stories about abuse and neglect of children, the mentally ill and the mentally retarded who are under state care.

I don't think that there should be more funding until these facilities are made to invest in their work force and provide employees with fair pay, adequate training and support--you get what you pay for!

Joyce Winters was the Director or Nursing for West Oaks and she was not properly licensed to work as a nurse in the State of Texas.Dr. Santos is known among some as King George for a very good reason, petty, dictatorial come to mind.

It's sad to see a reporter, although not uncommon at all, to not get all the facts and go for representing ratings only. I would think West Oaks does a lot more good then any one wants to admit. The other side or issue that no one wants to admit, or acknowledge, is how greatley disturbed these particular patients were. That is why they were not at home with thier perfect, capable family, and why other facilitys would not even try. Seems to me this reporter and the families that are providing half truths should be sued by every one mentioned in this article!!! It is people like this that are the reason there is so little help out there for people with mental issues. Mabe they prefer they go to jail instead as the criminally insane, which is what they were/are/will grow up to be!!!

DR.Santos is pretty ill himself, a well known fact of anyone who has ever met him.

Sounds to me like the person who wrote this story was on a deadline, had nothing, and went back to re-write some old story she had previously written. Perhaps Ms. Downing would like to do a cover feature story on the chad issue in the Florida presidential election.......again...... I realize that it's the Houston Press and all, but come on- cant you guys write something that is perhaps current news? My opinion is that this article smells fishy - kinda like an attorney thats stirring the pot. Shame on you guys.

THOSE DEFENDING THE HOSPITAL OR THE ARTICLE HAVE OBVIOUSLY NEVER HAD A LOVED ONE CARED FOR BY THIS HOSPITAL. THERE IS PROABABLY MORE TO THIS ARTICLE THAN HAS SURFACED.

Dear Sonja, let me just ask you this; how hard would you want YOUR son to fight back in a life or death struggle, with a crazed lunatic wacked out on drugs, that just happens to be a PROFESSIONAL fighter and already put other care givers in the emergency room, that comes attacking him? After you think about that a sec. You might also want to think like a grown up and realize that "most" reporting is one sided, imagine that!!!!! Dare I say it, the public didn't get all the facts? NEVER HEARD OF THAT HAPPENING BEFORE!!!

hey "S", commentor on may 15th, everyone has someone in the family with mental illness, its people like you looking to blame others for it, or critisize others for trying to do what you cant or wont. I dont see any one supporting the hospital or the employees, I see bad reporting, no facts and a bunch of bozo's who dont know how to do anything other than point the finger at some one else in hopes of taking away some of thier own guilt!

Ms. Downing could have authored an insightful article describing the complex problems facing the mental health system in Houston. Instead she penned a grade B movie script, much like a John Wayne western from the 40's, in black and white, featuring the "good guys" and the "bad guys."

She could have investigated how pricing pressures from Medicare/ Medicaid and the insurance companies have forced most psychiatric facilities to close. Psych Hospitals like West Oaks charged $ 400 a day in 1981, and are paid $500-550 now, a decline of 40 % after inflation is taken into consideration. That's if, and when, the insurance companies decide to pay anything whatsoever. The Memorial system caught on faster than others, and closed all their psychiatric beds a decade ago because they were losing money.

Ms. Downing states "When local public psychiatric hospitals' beds are full, they often redirect patients to West Oaks," implying this is some act of generosity on the county's part. She fails to mention these are all charity patients, and that West Oaks provides millions of dollars annually in free care to indigents. In fact, emergency rooms as far away as Freeport or Galveston routinely send their indigent patients to West Oaks, which takes care of them like any other patient, but for free.

Ms. Downing could have examined how Texas ranks at the bottom in the country in provision of mental health services, and prefers to spend its resources incarcerating prisoners, and that many poor people can only get their chemical dependence treatment in TDC.

In a "let them eat cake" moment Ms. Downing implies Menninger's is stooping low to refer to West Oaks. She could have explained how Menninger's charges $1000 a day, payable in advance, and doesn't take insurance. They also don't treat very sick patients, and exclude any one who's suicidal, assaultive, or particularly psychotic. Ms. Downing needs to digest the unfortunate truth that the unwashed masses of middle income Houstonians have managed care insurance and can't afford Menninger's and instead use the services of West Oaks or similar facilities.

She could have even visited the other psych hospitals in the area (i.e. Intracare, Cypress Creek), and she would have noticed they all look the same and operate similarly. She might have even discovered the common denominator of why that is if she'd only looked hard enough (The clue's in the 2nd paragraph, Ms. Downing!).

Perhaps Ms. Downing should be excused for writing a one-dimensional article, since she was constrained to 6 pages or less. Or maybe next time she just needs to do her homework first.

Wow. I worked at West Oaks for several years in the early eighties and it was NOTHING like this.

We had training of some kind almost every day.

It sounds like it has gone the way of most other mental health facilities in this country.

Too bad. Someone there should care more. And by 'there' I mean inside West Oaks AND the regulatory boards in Texas whose job it is to oversee them.

And RW - You seem to have a gift for the obvious. What the reporter didn't write about could fill the ocean. Congrats on so cleverly presenting your agenda at the same time that you discount someone else for doing the exact same thing.