It’s been nearly two years since state officials first identified patient care problems at Rutland Mental Health Services. But serious shortcomings at the organization persist. And lawmakers are worried that neither Rutland Mental Health nor the state has done enough to bring the agency back into compliance.
Dick Courcelle, the newly minted director of Rutland Mental Health Services, made his first appearance before the legislative committee that has oversight over his agency. And he tried to distance himself from the problems of his organization’s past.
“One of the great things about not being in a position for very long was really not having been intimately involved in perhaps some of the activities that led to why we’re meeting today,” said Courcelle, who previously worked as a consultant for Rutland Mental Health.
But lawmakers aren’t yet convinced that new leadership will rectify a host of problems that culminated with a suicide last August, and included a near-suicide last April. Rutland Mental Health has also been cited for infractions such as prohibited use of physical restraints, lack of adequate hygiene in facilities and failure to report serious incidents to state regulators.
“You had problem A in 2013, and in 2015 you still have problem … A, there’s a big problem there,” said Barre Town Rep. Topper McFaun.
Lawmakers aren't yet convinced that new leadership will rectify a host of problems that culminated with a suicide last November, and included a near-suicide last July.
McFaun was one of several members of the House Committee on Human Services that spent Friday morning grilling Courcelle and others on the problems at the Rutland Mental Health.
The organization is one of 11 so-called “designated agencies” across the state. The non-profits receive hundreds of millions of public dollars to administer taxpayer-funded services for people with mental health conditions and developmental disabilities.
McFaun and other lawmakers didn’t reserve their scrutiny solely for the agency. South Burlington Rep. Ann Pugh, chairwoman of the committee on human services, says Friday’s hearing was held in part to examine state intervention in agency’s troubles.
“Based on the timeline, which outlines what they did, there to me are questions as to whether or not the state responded in a way that would assist an agency in trouble to move forward,” Pugh said.
"There to me are questions as to whether or not the state responded in a way that would assist an agency in trouble to move forward." - South Burlington Rep. Ann Pugh, chairwoman of the committee on human services
Health Commissioner Harry Chen said the state’s quality-assurance resources are limited. The Department of Mental Health, for instance, saw its quality management division halved recently, from four positions to two.
But Chen says the state’s response to the problem was adequate.
“The state did provide quality assurance and technical assistance, but the response from Rutland Mental Health was insufficient,” Chen said. “And if they can’t provide that, then we really have to look at what’s the management and leadership that’s entailed with that agency.”
The former director of Rutland Mental Health resigned last month, and Chen says the arrival of new leadership was a key step to improving conditions at the agency.
Rutland Mental Health is at risk of losing its designated status, and the tax dollars that go with it, if it can’t right the ship in the next six months. New Director Dick Courcelle vowed to lawmakers that the nonprofit will institute the operational reforms needed to restore its reputation.
"The state did provide quality assurance and technical assistance, but the response from Rutland Mental Health was insufficient. And if they can't provide that, then we really have to look at what's the management and leadership that's entailed with that agency." - Health Commissioner Harry Chen
“We are confident and will assure you that we will not have to appear before such a group again to answer these types of questions,” Courcelle said.
Chen says the state needs to do everything it can to help the agency get back on track.
“This is a very valued relationship we have without our designated agencies, in terms of providing essential services. And merely the concept of designation means they’re probably the only show in town that can do that,” Courcelle said.
The agency is in the midst of drafting corrective action plan.
This post was edited at 9:39 a.m. on 7/13/2015 to correct the spelling of Dick Courcelle's name, and to correct the dates of a suicide and near-suicide involving clients of Rutland Mental Health Services
