Tag Archives: New York State Department of Health

The Trust Given Me

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I recently told New York State Department of Health Officials they can trust me, and they can. I told them what I have told others.  I will stand against anyone or anything that denies people their equal rights, and I will stand with anyone or anything that supports equal rights – for all people. It’s that simple.

In early 2008 I was pretty much tossed out of the Belvedere Brain Injury Program because I would not remain silent when I saw program participants denied their equal rights by the leadership of Belvedere’s substance abuse program. The owner of the program, John Mccooey said, in front of witnesses I might add, that while my financial relationship would not change, my relationship with Belvedere would change, meaning I had to leave. Mccooey continued to pay me for awhile short time later he said I’d told someone that he was paying me for my silence which is about as absurd as it gets given the reason I was tossed from the program in the first place was my very lack of silence. So, he used a lie as an excuse to stop paying me.

While I hear mixed reviews of Belvedere today, it is worth noting that Belvedere is the only brain injury waiver provider in the state that will not allow the Kahrmann Advocacy Coalition, founded by brain injury survivors and their loved ones, to meet with program participants. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.

Anyway, there I was, from weekly paycheck to no income at all. I’d been an independent contractor so unemployment was not an option. Given that I had not been working a full-time schedule because of my brain injury, I sought public assistance, received a rush of help from friends, began monthly trips to a food pantry, and went back on disability and my state’s TBI Waiver which, while it has its problems, is a blessing to nearly 3,000 people.

Back then some of the people who love me said things like, We know you care and we know you don’t like it when people are being denied their rights, but you’ve got to keep your mouth shut sometimes so you can keep your job, a roof over your head.  I can’t. Not then. Not now. Not ever. Who am I to put my income over another person’s right to their equality? I look at the sacrifices made by others in the battle for civil rights and when all is said and done, losing a job or a home is not that high on the trauma scale, not when others have paid for their work with their lives.

Not long after the Belvedere blow, I met up with my friend Eric Mitchell. Eric and I worked together at Belvedere and had become close friends. I told him what happened with Belvedere and said, “At least I wasn’t assassinated.” Eric paused, said, “In a way you were,” and gave me a hug.

There are quite a few brain injury survivors along with their loved ones who trust me to stay loyal to them, to not fold when their equal rights are threatened, no matter the cost.  I will not betray their trust. Their trust is one of life’s greatest gifts to me; the fact the above referenced coalition is now the largest survivor-led coalition in the state is testimony to this gift.

I was recently asked if, as a human rights advocate, I ever get scared. Yes,  I do. All the time. But I agree with Nelson Mandela’s take on courage. He said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

So yes, the DOH and others can trust me. They can trust that I will always stand up for equal rights and stand against any force that seeks to deny equal rights.

Who Pressured NY DOH into Bringing Back a Clinical Predator?

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Someone must have pressured the New York State Department of Health to enter into a contract that allows a clinical predator back into the lives of brain injury survivors, their families and those who provide services to them. Some political favor or debt has called in, someone with some pull who clearly cares absolutely nothing about brain injury survivors.

I make this observation because it is the only thing that makes sense. There are some truly good people working at the DOH who really do care about brain injury survivors. But who among them (or anyone for that matter) can say with a straight face that they are comfortable with the department’s entering into a contract that allows Timothy J. Feeney, who by all accounts is nothing but a full-blown narcissist, back into the lives of those of us living with brain injuries.

There are some good people at the DOH and I dare say many would be forced to bite deep into their tongues in order to get themselves to say, “I think it is fine that someone who lies about his credentials to everyone provides services related to the TBI Waiver.” Don’t forget, Feeney and his company are already an approved provider of waiver services which makes one wonder what will be done about the obvious conflict of interest now that the clinical predators are back as the “neurobehavioral project.”  But Feeney doesn’t stop there. Let’s not forget that only this week Feeney was up in Washington County’s Fort Ann School District working with disabled children, never mind that school officials know his credentials are bogus. So much for putting children first.

A DOH official who  I will not name said the DOH has been assured by Maria Dibble, the executive director of the Southern Tier Independence Center, the recipient of the more than $250,000 contract that will hand the work to Feeney, that the provisions of the contract will be carried out in the highest professional manner. As presented, Ms. Dibble’s reassurance would actually be funny were it not so morally and clinically troubling – not too mention absent any relationship to  reality. How on earth can you provide quality services when you know the person providing them is lying about their credentials?

An email asking Ms. Dibble to explain STIC’s support for Feeney has gone unanswered.

Back to the question of the day. Who is pulling the strings? Is it solely a coincidence that Patricia Greene Gumson, a former DOH employee and Feeney supporter used to work at STIC? Sources have made it clear that both Ms. Gumson and current DOH employee Bruce Rosen had the reality of Feeney’s invalid college degrees brought to their attention and they did nothing about it.  There is no doubt that Gumson and Rosen did some admirable things over the years, no doubt at all. But this truth does not spare them accountability for supporting a clinical predator who likes to call himself “the angel of death” and has been known to be a bully. I’ve heard him refer to himself like this and the late Dr. Mark Ylvisaker often referenced Feeney’s penchant for this macabre moniker.

But back to the question at hand. Who pulled the strings for Feeney? To where or to whom does the corruption thread lead? One possible clue would be to watch which provider Feeney buddies up with.

Anyway, the truth will out.

 

Sometimes the Reader Says It Best

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I don’t know that I have ever posted a reader’s comment as a standalone piece before, but I am posting this one. This person has successful stated what is in the hearts and minds of thousands across the New York State and beyond right now, it accurately echoes what I and others heard for years about Feeney.

“A  new comment on your post "Responding to a Reader about Feeney’s Work":

In an era when accountability and responsibility are important and stressed by the NYS government and DOH they award contracts to a facility who hires someone lying about his credentials. That’s the message that DOH chooses to give to all other providers, staff and organizations serving people with disabilities. The OMIG and the state attorney should be involved not just now but for all these years that the self proclaimed "Dr Feeney" did his work. If DOH would have elicited feedback from providers, regional offices and participants alike, they would never allow him to work with survivors as part of this program and be part of a contract they award nevertheless.”

True that.

Thoughts on the New York State Department of Health

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The content of this essay may surprise some. Wouldn’t be the first time. On the whole, I happen to like the New York State Department of Health.  In all the years I’ve interacted with them,  with only one minor recent exception, the people at the DOH have been all I could hope for. No, I don’t always agree with every single policy, but so what?

What I can confidently say about my relationship with the DOH when it comes to the world of brain injury survivors in my state is this; I believe they genuinely do care and, I believe, they are doing their best and working far harder for their constituents  than they are given credit for.

A long time ago I went to work for a man who was used to being surrounded by mostly sycophants. Early on I told him, “Please understand that brown does not wear well on my nose.” I’d later learned this was something he liked about me. Anyway, brown didn’t wear well then and it doesn’t wear well now, so anyone doubting the sincerity of what I am saying here is mistaken.

The Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver in  my state is, when all is said and done, a blessing. Does it have its problems? Sure. After all, any program taking on the significant challenge of helping people with brain injuries regain their independence and live in the community would. Moreover, we are all human beings who have never worn the countenance of perfection and never will and that’s okay. I can tell you that when I’ve sat across the table from people in the DOH, people like Mary Ann Anglin, Beth Gnozzio, Mark Kissinger, Lydia Kosinksi and more, I am sitting across the table from people who genuinely care.

While the experience of living with a brain injury is not easy on any front, it would be far more difficult for the 2,700 or so people now on the waiver, which is managed by the DOH.

If I had my way all those just mentioned would come to the brain injury summit scheduled for next month. They’re certainly more than welcome.

We Are Not Children, the Assault on CDR & Fighting Segregation

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I must’ve forgot to read the paper or watch the news  that day.  What day, you ask? The day the universe decided that if an adult has a disability he or she reverts to age three and, on top of that, morphs into a liar and because of this, forfeits their rights be treated with respect. Not surprisingly, the loss of respect translates into another loss, our rights, including our right to live in the most integrated setting.

One again, people are fighting against segregation and the dehumanization of people – like me – who live with a disability.

Right now, for instance, people with disabilities are under assault in Monroe County New York because a county executive named Maggie Brooks issued a rather sleazy and disingenuous directive that ends a contract with the prestigious non-profit Center for Disability Rights and, as a result, creates carnage in the lives of people with disabilities and, coincidentally (not!), looks to add money to the coffers of for-profit companies.

On the individual and community fronts, people with disabilities are almost habitually treated as if they are dishonest little children who barely have the right to call themselves human beings.

The assault on our right to respect and equality is both global and individual. As the several thousand regular readers of this blog know, I have to move to a new home. There is a subsidy in place that helps me with rent. It will transfer to my new home (once it is found) but, were there to be a gap between my leaving this home and finding a new one, I would not be able to retain the subsidy. Recently my current landlord called me to tell me someone from the New York State Department of Health had called them to ask when I was moving.

First, the person from the DOH does not have a signed release from me and may well have violated the HIPPA law by talking to my landlord in the first place. Second, I am being treated as if I am a liar. Not good. This incident with me is simply a small appendage of the kind of abuse people with disabilities in this country endure day in and day out.

We are all responsible for supporting each others equal rights. I would urge you to visit the CDR site and do all you can to support them. By supporting their rights, you support your own.

Oh, it should not surprise you to learn I’ve filed a complaint in response to the call made to my landlord. However, it would be both wrong and highly inaccurate to condemn the NY DOH as a whole for the actions of one person. There are some remarkably wonderful and dedicated people in the DOH.