4-14-15 Iowa:One of the first patients transferred out of the state mental hospital at Clarinda in preparation for its closure died less than three weeks later, his family confirmed Tuesday.
Richard Webb, 87, was a longtime resident of the institution, which is one of two that the state is shuttering. Critics say the swift closures could endanger vulnerable Iowans who have severe mental problems.
Webb had an advanced case of Alzheimer's disease, his family said. He was admitted to the Clarinda facility several years ago after private nursing homes determined he was too agitated to handle.
He was transferred to a Shenandoah nursing home March 25, and he died Sunday.
His daughter-in-law, Paula Webb of Kellerton, said he had suffered repeated bouts of pneumonia, which might have recurred recently. When asked whether she believed his transfer hastened his death, she replied: "It's really hard to say." However, she said that as a retired nurse, she knows firsthand that moving to a new place can be especially stressful for frail, elderly people.
Richard Webb was one of fewer than 20 residents in the Clarinda institution's geriatric psychiatry program when Gov. Terry Branstad disclosed in January that he intended to close the state's Clarinda and Mount Pleasant mental hospitals by July 1. Although the geriatric program is small, advocates say it handles some of Iowa's most difficult cases involving seniors with mental issues.
Richard Webb's family opposes closure of the program.
Daughter Linda Young of Villisca said she didn't like having her father live in a mental hospital, but private nursing homes had rejected him. She's worried about what will happen to similar patients once the Clarinda program is gone. "It's horrible to have no place in this world for people like this to go," she said.
Family members stressed that the Shenandoah nursing home seemed to be giving him good care. They're awaiting official word on a cause of death.
Branstad has said most residents of the Clarinda and Mount Pleasant mental hospitals could be better served in private facilities. Some others are being transferred to the state's other two mental hospitals, at Independence and Cherokee.
Branstad spokesman Jimmy Centers released a statement when asked Tuesday about the significance of Richard Webb's death. "Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. (Kim) Reynolds offer their condolences to the family on the loss of their loved one," he wrote. He added that the administration wants to work with legislators to improve mental health care. "Modern mental health care is best delivered in a patient's community, in an accredited setting, and where there is access to a doctor rather than in unaccredited institutions built in the 1800s," he wrote.
Amy Lorentzen McCoy, spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Human Services, said Tuesday that her agency is being careful in arranging such transfers.
"Gero-psychiatric patients are elderly and have mental health needs, and many have multiple chronic illnesses," she wrote in an email to the Register. "We understand that this can be a difficult time for both residents and their families, and our dedicated staff work hard so there is as little disruption as possible for the elderly residents as they make this transition."
McCoy said privacy laws prevented her from commenting specifically about the Webb case.
Sen. Rob Hogg, a Cedar Rapids Democrat who opposes Branstad's moves to quickly close the mental hospitals, said news of the patient's death is one more sign that the state needs to slow down.
Hogg emphasized that he didn't know details of the cause of death, but he agreed with Webb's family that shifting such patients to new facilities can affect their health. "To put them through the stress of a transfer when they're in such a vulnerable situation is just wrong," Hogg said.
Rep. Dave Heaton, a Mount Pleasant Republican who also has been critical of the planned hospital shutdown, recalled that several elderly patients died shortly after they were transferred from the Mount Pleasant institution to the Clarinda one during a consolidation of the system in the 1970s. He said he had feared the same thing would happen this year, as the state transfers frail, elderly residents from the Clarinda institution to nursing homes.
A worker at the Clarinda facility said Webb was the second patient transferred out of the geriatric psychiatry program and into a nursing home in preparation for the hospital's closure. The worker, who spoke to the Register on condition of anonymity, said staff members worry that there will be more such deaths as residents of the program are transferred. The worker said Clarinda staff members know the patients well, and have learned how to meet their specific needs. For example, the employee said, the staff knows how to coax residents into eating and drinking.
Richard Webb worked as a handyman and hired hand, his family said. His obituary says he is survived by three children, nine grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
Services are set for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Watson-Armstrong Funeral Home in Mount Ayr.
Disability Rights Iowa to investigate
Jane Hudson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa, said her group is launching an investigation into the death of a patient recently transferred from the state mental hospital at Clarinda.
Hudson's federally financed group has authority to review records, interview staff and recommend changes, though it can't levy fines. The group doesn't necessarily oppose the pending closures of two state mental hospitals, but it believes they're being done too hastily.
A similar situation came up in Alabama in 2011, when two patients died after being transferred from a state intellectual-disabilities facility that was closing. James Tucker, director of the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program, said he asked the state to temporarily halt transfers while experts discussed better ways to handle them.
The state agreed to a one-month moratorium, during which new rules were put in place. One of the keys was to make sure doctors at the current and new facilities actually talked to each other about patients before transfers, Tucker said. "That really made a difference," he said.
Hudson said she hopes Iowa will agree to a similar process. ..Source.. by Tony Leys
No comments:
Post a Comment