Psychiatric Hospitals

For the most part, psychiatric hospitals, institutions that house people for their lifetimes, are things of the past. In Oregon most hospitals are shutting down their inpatient wards. At OHSU we only have 10 inpatient beds for psychiatric patients. This in a hospital of 550+ beds.

One reason: they lose money. Another reason: there's no need for them. It's better for people to stay in the community, even the chronically mentally ill.

Across the country this is true; in upstate New York one mental institution was closed completely in 1995. When they went to clean out the building they found a stack of suitcases in the attic of the main building. These suitcases were the possessions of the inmates, brought with them when they checked into the hospital. A few curious people decided to sort through these things with great care and ended up writing a book about what they found. It is a bittersweet story. There's a display at the New York Public Library, chronicling the lives of some of the inmates. Many of them appear to be immigrants who had some horrible temporary circumstance in their lives, which led to incarceration. Over half of those committed to these institutions spent their entire lives there, and ultimately died there.

Oregon still has two state mental hospitals up and running. One is in Pendleton. The other in Salem. The hospital in Salem is in deplorable physical condition, and is being replaced by a new hospital. Where? Junction City. Stay tuned....I will know more about this when I start my job....

I have a new job!

This just in: I've been offered (and I have accepted) the job as the Administrator of OHSU's Psychiatric Department! I've been looking around for a new job, as my current gig with OHSU's Center for Evidence-based Policy is coming to an end. I had two serious contenders who interviewed me for days, literally.

I meet with my new boss next Wednesday where we will hammer out the details of the new position. Until then, stay tuned.....

Update: See the announcement on OHSU's website.

Sears stove, update

Never buy anything from Sears. I'm serious.

Now that the stove works again, I've been tempted to use it. Like today, for example. I'm doing my annual Christmas Cookie Bake, opening and closing the oven door a billion times.\

Until, the handle came completely apart on the oven. No fear, I'm not helpless. I went and got my tools and screwed it back on. But really. This stove/oven sucks.

We're Back...

....back from our trip to Maui! David and I have made this an annual trek the last couple of years. We go to Maui to get some much-needed sunshine so we can survive the black winters around here. However, this trip to Maui was a little bit stormy. When we arrived, the power had been out on Maui; trees had blown over; the roads were flooded and some were impassable.

We spent the first three days on the island in our room reading books, typing on the computer (editing stories) and eating whatever came our way.

The last two days there were sunshiny and bright, which made it all worthwhile. David and I explored a little bit and checked in at the surfing championships (the Billabong) north of where we stay at Ka'anapali.

It was pretty warm, but not the first few days. I wore everything I had to walk on the beach one day.