http://cambridge.wickedlocal.
Special police officer faces drug charges after arrest in Somerville
A special police officer from Somerville was arrested and charged with drug possession.
Posted Jan. 31, 2014 @ 6:55 pm
Jan 31, 2014 at 6:59 PM
Showing posts with label Cambridge Health Alliance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cambridge Health Alliance. Show all posts
February 10, 2014
Special Police Officer, Hospital Security Charged With Illegal Drug Sales
http://cambridge.wickedlocal.
Special police officer faces drug charges after arrest in Somerville
A special police officer from Somerville was arrested and charged with drug possession.
Posted Jan. 31, 2014 @ 6:55 pm
Jan 31, 2014 at 6:59 PM
May 9, 2013
Conscience of the Cambridge City Council
Cambridge City Councilors
On May 6, 2013 at a regular meeting of the Cambridge MA City Council a late order was introduced for the second time concerning changes at The Cambridge Health Alliance in psychiatric services for children 3 to 7 years-old. They are being combined with the psychiatric services for children 8 to 12 and above according to some of the Councilors.
During discussion transcribed below, the most righteous of the Councilors reprimanded the Mayor for questioning the motives of the sponsors of the order. But more perplexing is the alleged lack of communication with the City Council about management of the hospital. Curiously the righteous Councilor (and State Representative) Marjorie "Conscience of the City" Decker, did not mention that the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the hospital, Ellen Semonoff, is the City's Assistant Manager for Human Services.
Ellen Semonoff, Chairman of Board of Trustees, Cambridge Health Alliance; Assistant Cambridge City Manager for Human Services
She speaks to the Council during their meetings regularly. The former Cambridge City Assistant Manager Finance Director, Louis De Pasquale is also on the Board of Trustees of the hospital. Here's a portion of the discussion transcribed to the best of my ability. I omitted some of the "ums" and "ahs."
What is of concern is that non of the Councilors are apprehensive about in-patient psychiatric treatment of 3-year-olds. Are they saying no too much? Are they not sitting still with their hands folded enough? How much earlier can the psychiatric industry recruit clients and add to the number of civilians with "a history of mental illness?"
Louis DePasquale, Former Cambridge Assistant City Manager for Finance; Member of the Board of Trustees of Cambridge Health Alliance
Mayor Davis: "I just want to add that I too heard from Mr. Wardell [Patrick Wardell Chief Executive Officer, Cambridge Health Alliance] about this and I think some of the facts as being represented now are not exactly right. I believe that [for] the zero to eight [year-olds] there will be no services in this community and that the services that are being combined over eight years old, I'm not sure I'm exactly right, but I don't think, it may not be exactly as the Vice Mayor may have deduced. The other thing is that, that surprised me was to learn that these services are actually regional already. That surely there will be loss of services to Cambridge children, but these services have been for, are really state wide, some of them, and that the crisis in beds for children in mental health is huge, but it's not that Cambridge Hospital was only serving Cambridge kids, it was serving children from other parts of the state, other parts of the region as well. So it's a rather complicated problem, and I, I think that, I mean we're all aware that the mental health crisis in funding is such that it causes some of these unexpected and undesired consequences ultimately. So I don't, I guess I don't want to assume the worst in turns of motive. I don't like the outcome. But I don't think the motive is to, is, is one of trying to take services away from Cambridge kids, but the desire to manage to have, hold the rest of the services in place, so that those services for the older kids are available."
Patrick Wardell, CEO, Cambridge Health Alliance
Marjorie Decker: "Madam Mayor."
Cambridge City Councilor and State Representative Marjorie Decker
Mayor Davis: "Councilor Decker."
Mayor Henrietta Davis
Marjorie Decker: "Yea, I think it's important also in your own language, I don't think anyone here myself and Vice Mayor Simmons, or Councilor Toomey who put this order in, are suggesting the worst of the Cambridge Health Alliance. I would really ask you to just be thoughtful when talking about our motives because our motives did not say . . ."
Cambridge City Councilor and State Representative Marjorie Decker
Mayor Henrietta Davis
Mayor Davis: "I'm not, I'm not talking about . . ."
Cambridge City Councilor and State Representative Marjorie Decker
Marjorie Decker: "that we assumed the worst of them. I would say the point remains that major resource issues are taking place that is affecting our community. Legislators in the surrounding areas who also are, have also signed onto a letter expressing concerns about this move to Boston. It absolutely, if you don't think that having these services now located in Boston will have an impact on families here, and I'm very aware of the surrounding areas whose families are served, there are a number of people who are quite concerned, not only by this, but that the Health Alliance needs to see our community, surrounding community that it serves, as a, as partners to turn to and to collaborate to, not to necessarily make decisions and then come back and tell us to live with the results. This is our community hospital. The City doesn't own it anymore. So it's not the City Hospital officially. But it does serve, um, it serves the well insured, uh, like my family, and it serves the under insured and it serves the very, the most vulnerable families who live amongst us. And what we are seeing, because it's a resource issue, and I was very careful to say that earlier, what we continue to see is the Cambridge Health Alliance as we know it disappearing. Now if you're not worried about being able to hop in your car and go pay 20 bucks to drive in Boston. Not a big deal if you have the flexibility in your schedule and your time, maybe not a big deal. There are a lot of families in Cambridge who don't have that option. So for the Health Alliance it is absolutely critical that it sees that the communities that they are serving as partners and advocates and exhaust all those resources. Not one phone call did I or anyone in the legislative delegation get saying, "You know what, we'd really like an amendment in the budget because we think we're going to lose the ability to continue these services." Um. Those, that has to happen, that kind of communication, and briefing and dialogue has to happen. It cannot be, it cannot be comfortable for those of us who serve this community, and feel a deep responsibility for the health and the well-being of this community, and in particular those who are the most vulnerable and marginalized in this community, who depend on the excellent medical care and services at the Cambridge Health Alliance. There's no other hospital in the country that I would choose. There's no hospital in Boston that I would choose over accessing my health care in the Cambridge Health Alliance. It's that good. And people who are well-insured should really continue to know that. Um. Because it's really an amazing place with amazing medical team, um, and staff. I continue to say to them, and I, uh, would encourage you to not be comfortable with their choices. To be comfortable only when in fact you know that they have exhausted all possibilities working with us as community leaders and all the Community leaders that they have at their access, at, that they have access to, that they are working and really seeing us as problem solvers. Maybe there is nothing to be done at the end of the day. But certainly having a conversation about what choices are available, and what's at stake if we don't make, um, certain choices. That's the conversation that I'm pushing for. Thank you."
September 25, 2012
Child Psychiatrist, Nancy Rappaport, Discusses New Book
Child Psychiatrist Nancy Rappaport (Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School) spoke at the Cambridge Public Library on Monday September 24, 2012.
http://nancyrappaport.com/
She discussed her new book, The Behavior Code: Practical Strategies for Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students. Rappaport described elaborate schemes to compensate for disruptive behavior in the classroom. She suggested ways for teachers to understand what students may lack and what causes problematic behavior. One parent explained that her child came to US schools from another culture and was thought to be unintelligent because of language and cultural differences. Is there a need for psychiatry to correct this? Another told of a young person new to this country who urinated in the classroom because she did not know how to ask to go to the bathroom. Again, is this a psychiatric issue?
Some questions include, "If teachers are focused on remedying what students lack, e.g., knowing how to behave in class, how can they teach traditional subjects to these students?" "What are psychiatrists doing in schools?" "If students are unable to behave properly how is that a matter for teachers to correct?" They spend too much time on discipline and not enough teaching basics.
"Does the focus on psychiatry in classrooms explain why US schools fail to educate students?" "Does the acceptability of pervasive failure indicate that the ruling class does not care if public school students learn anything?" "Do teachers unions' accumulation of power work contrary to teaching and learning?" Employers and colleges provide extensive remedial classes teaching young people what they failed to learn in secondary schools. Special education is a large profitable taxpayer funded business for the psychiatric industry. Is this an example of what passes for improving schools? More psychiatrists in public schools will only do more harm to the primary function of public schools. Psychiatry has its place but it is not in public schools.
http://nancyrappaport.com/
She discussed her new book, The Behavior Code: Practical Strategies for Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students. Rappaport described elaborate schemes to compensate for disruptive behavior in the classroom. She suggested ways for teachers to understand what students may lack and what causes problematic behavior. One parent explained that her child came to US schools from another culture and was thought to be unintelligent because of language and cultural differences. Is there a need for psychiatry to correct this? Another told of a young person new to this country who urinated in the classroom because she did not know how to ask to go to the bathroom. Again, is this a psychiatric issue?
Some questions include, "If teachers are focused on remedying what students lack, e.g., knowing how to behave in class, how can they teach traditional subjects to these students?" "What are psychiatrists doing in schools?" "If students are unable to behave properly how is that a matter for teachers to correct?" They spend too much time on discipline and not enough teaching basics.
"Does the focus on psychiatry in classrooms explain why US schools fail to educate students?" "Does the acceptability of pervasive failure indicate that the ruling class does not care if public school students learn anything?" "Do teachers unions' accumulation of power work contrary to teaching and learning?" Employers and colleges provide extensive remedial classes teaching young people what they failed to learn in secondary schools. Special education is a large profitable taxpayer funded business for the psychiatric industry. Is this an example of what passes for improving schools? More psychiatrists in public schools will only do more harm to the primary function of public schools. Psychiatry has its place but it is not in public schools.
July 23, 2010
Psychiatry Enables Death of Woman
Here's another example of the arbitrary and capricious nature of "scientific" (Ahem!) psychiatric evaluations. In this case psychiatrists in Cambridge released a woman who then attacked her friend and police. Was she taking psychiatric medications known to cause violence? How many evaluations go the other way when personal animosity inspires psychiatric charlatans to take a citizen's freedom? When will these nonsensical laws be repealed in order to end loony public policy?
[From article]
"The incident began with police responding to a domestic incident at Kingsley's Sycamore Terrace home early in the morning July 23. Kingsley, 33, was reportedly taken to Cambridge Hospital around 3 a.m. and released after she was evaluated.
Somerville shooting victim checked into Cambridge Hospital ER
By Andy Metzger and Auditi Guha
[From article]
"The incident began with police responding to a domestic incident at Kingsley's Sycamore Terrace home early in the morning July 23. Kingsley, 33, was reportedly taken to Cambridge Hospital around 3 a.m. and released after she was evaluated.
She returned home at about 6:30 a.m., lunged at her boyfriend with a knife and then set his clothes on fire, police said. When police arrived again, Kingsley attacked and stabbed three officers before being shot and killed by police."
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1599841030/Somerville-shooting-victim-checked-into-Cambridge-Hospital-ERSomerville shooting victim checked into Cambridge Hospital ER
By Andy Metzger and Auditi Guha
October 15, 2008
Women Don't Lie
Women Don't Lie
Wait a minute. This is hate speech against women. Nancy Ryan never lies and never distorts the truth. No women lie. Only men lie. This is an outrage against women and the ACLU. How can the responsible journalists at the Cambridge Chronicle publish such hate speech? Nancy Ryan is President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the ACLU which never allows any lies. Are the writers of this letter Republican men who voted for Bush pretending to be women?
Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/opinions/x1261521498/Letter-Correcting-misinformation-about-Windsor-Street-clinic
Letter: Correcting misinformation about Windsor Street clinic
Cambridge Chronicle
Mon Oct 13, 2008, 03:14 PM EDT
RANDY WERTHEIMER, MD
Chief, Department of Family Medicine
Cambridge Health Alliance
KATE HARNEY, MD
Chief, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Wait a minute. This is hate speech against women. Nancy Ryan never lies and never distorts the truth. No women lie. Only men lie. This is an outrage against women and the ACLU. How can the responsible journalists at the Cambridge Chronicle publish such hate speech? Nancy Ryan is President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the ACLU which never allows any lies. Are the writers of this letter Republican men who voted for Bush pretending to be women?
Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/opinions/x1261521498/Letter-Correcting-misinformation-about-Windsor-Street-clinic
Letter: Correcting misinformation about Windsor Street clinic
Cambridge Chronicle
Mon Oct 13, 2008, 03:14 PM EDT
RANDY WERTHEIMER, MD
Chief, Department of Family Medicine
Cambridge Health Alliance
KATE HARNEY, MD
Chief, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
