Castle appealing state decision on adolescent care
Castle Medical Center is appealing a state Health Department decision to stop placing adolescents there for acute and residential mental health care.Health officials cited concerns about Castle's use of restraints, seclusion procedures and facilities, and staff attitude and compliance with a corrective action plan.
Hospital and health officials will meet tomorrow to discuss the appeal to the department.
"We feel like we really haven't been given a fair shake on this," said Gwen Brownfield, Castle vice president for patient care.
The Health Department notified Castle last Wednesday that it is canceling part of a contract covering acute and residential adolescent services, but outpatient and partial hospitalization services will be retained.
Brownfield said the state's decision was based on a 1-1/2-hour hospital visit Feb. 14 by government attorneys and Health Department staff that wasn't expected until early March, when a plan to correct problems is completed.
"It's like trying to see if a baby is full-term and trying to deliver it at five months," Brownfield said.
Mental health care improvements were ordered under a consent decree settling a 1991 federal lawsuit focusing on the State Hospital.
Children were treated there at the time, but are now treated at Castle and Kahi Mohala, which are included in the monitoring.
Justice Department lawyers in November told U.S. District Judge David Ezra that children were being held without oversight in multiple restraints for long periods at Castle and Kahi Mohala.
Layoffs of city workers likely with new budget
City budget staffers have found some money to save some jobs, but there will still likely be layoffs when Mayor Jeremy Harris unveils his new budget Monday, city Managing Director Bob Fishman said.Harris, who refused to discuss layoffs during a news conference on new park facilities, said he likely will talk about the future of the city's 9,000 employees Friday.
The mayor first announced that layoffs were a likelihood when testifying before the Legislature earlier this month. He cited falling property tax revenues, which contributed to a $75 million shortfall.
Aloha United Way gives agencies $11.4 million
A total of $11.4 million in Aloha United Way funds raised in the 1997 campaign will go to 65 United Way member health and human service agencies and other agencies designated to receive funds, plus approved special projects and initiatives.Community-building initiatives that benefit from Aloha United Way funding include Youth Mapping and Youth Outcomes.
Parents of Maui schoolchildren taped to tree retain attorney
WAILUKU -- Parents of two Pukalani Elementary School students who allegedly were taped to a tree as punishment have retained an attorney.Attorney Roy Franco said a letter on behalf of the parents has been sent to the state Department of Education and they are waiting for a response.
The incident allegedly occurred during lunch recess Thursday to two special-education students.
"At this point and time, the ball is in the court of the state," Franco said.
Franco said one of the parents spoke to a substitute vice principal who admitted taping the students to the tree.
"They're very upset as to the response this individual had to disciplining the children," Franco said.
He said the parents are looking at whether there was any false imprisonment, assault or a potential violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffPolice allege boy, 15, swung knife at parents
Police yesterday arrested and charged a 15-year-old boy for allegedly pulling a knife on his parents.The parents confronted the boy at 9:25 a.m. about an unauthorized charge on a credit card, police said.
When the boy attempted to flee, he was detained at their Kaneohe home.
The boy then reportedly pulled a butterfly knife from his pocket and swung it at the parents, police said. The knife was taken away, and the suspect was detained until the officers arrived.
He was charged with carrying a deadly weapon and two counts of terroristic threatening.
In other news ...
A 10-year-old Waialua girl who died last week after being hit by a pickup truck on Waialua Beach Road has been identified by the medical examiner's office as Alyssa Maurer. The girl was crossing the two-lane road from north to south when struck by an eastbound pickup driven by a 27-year-old Waialua man.
The suspects, a 40-year-old Pearl City man and a 22-year-old Waialua woman, were being held pending further investigation.
The man's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The cause of the fire, suspicious in origin, was under investigation.
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