I have seen the future of government health care. It is peopled with employees who punch a clock at both ends of a shift and spend the time between waiting for a break. They move slowly through the halls with no sense of urgency looking forward to the 30 minutes they have to eat the lunch they brought from home. They have learned to resent those in positions above their own, knowing that promotion within the government is more a matter of politics than reward for a job well done. I know this, I learned it during the 3 years I worked within the Department of Homeland Security.

It is within conditions such as this that we find the circumstances, reported by the Associated Press, occurring in Texas mental health facilities. It seems that "nearly 270 employees were fired or suspended for abusing or neglecting residents of large, state-run institutions for the mentally disabled in Texas during the last fiscal year." Of course, we will never know how many others might have gotten away with similar behavior that are not included in the report. Out of the 268 employees suspended or removed, 11 cases involved physical or sexual abuse that caused or may have caused serious physical injury. While this last year reported slightly higher incidents, there have been almost 1,100 suspensions or firings in the last 5 years.

Lest you begin to think the problem was understaffed, overworked facilities, I should point out that the 13 institutions employ more than 12,000 full time workers to care for a population of 4,600 patients. That's an employee to patient ratio of 2.5 to 1. Certainly there is amply help available to care for the needs of those in their care. That just doesn't account for the 465 cases of abuse confirmed in fiscal 2007, nor does it explain the 53 avoidable deaths from pneumonia, flu, overdose or bowel obstruction - all deemed to be entirely preventable. Perhaps the two employees at the Denton State School (isn't it cute they call the mental institutions, "schools"?) were simply having a bad day when they choose to throw a patient in full restraints into a pool, nearly drowning him.

On friday, Governor Rick Perry signed legislation to improve the security and oversight at the 13 mental facilities - oh, I mean "schools". I would imagine that the additional security might be used to prevent reports like this one from getting out into the public ever again. The Governor, in the most recent session, declared state school reform a legislative emergency. I would have to wonder if it became an emergency only after the legislature reached a settlement with the Justice Department for $112 million due to DOJ documenting widespread mistreatment and civil rights violations of patients. 

Apparently, like all problems found within government, the way to fix it is to increase funding. The state of Texas will spend an additional $24 million during each of the next two fiscal years to meet the settlement terms. The ratio of employees to patients will be going up as well. In the plan, the state will hire almost 3,000 more employees to help the overworked staff. The Justice Department noted that this type of thing is not confined to the state of Texas, but is found in virtually every state they investigate. If there is one thing about government enterprise you can count on, it's that they are certainly consistent in their approach.

In spite of whatever politicians tell you to the contrary, up to and including the President of the United States, the wonderful outlined plans to intervene on our behalf and remedy a problem (or a perceived problem) is really quite beyond their pay grade. Ask them to site an example, even one, of a government project or program that can produce the stated and desired results and stays within budget and concludes on time. They will be hard pressed to point to one program that meets the parameters that every privately owned company and every household in America must meet.

It's really not that I am unwilling to trust those we elect to do what they say they will do. It's that time and again, they have violated that trust so severely that I cannot blindly allow them to trample upon it once more. While it is, at times, frustrating to feel a bit out of control in matters of governance, it is my trust in God that keeps me from going totally mad, thereby placing myself in the hands of that very same government. Come to think of it, our founding fathers understood that, in some things, we never are in control. That's why they strived to place God into virtually every document which defines us as a nation. By defining all that we are nationally as conferred upon us by God, they understood that the ultimate control of a nation is in the hands of someone who's pay grade justifies such trust. 

Take a moment to share your thoughts with me -

Terry