Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Ridge Creek School / Hidden Lake Academy
Current HLA Staff
Anonymous:
--- Quote from: "Guest" ---Thanks Jill, I noticed many red flags in your posts about how HLA's infirmary was run. But they seemed to just skim by and stay within the law as far as dispensing the medications. I wouldnt want my kid under HLA's care, but they couldnt be charged with anything that I can see as far as the dispensing of the meds.
Now that we finished with that let me catch up with how they handled kids on IEP's/ spec. ED. I have experience in this area from a parents perspective.
--- End quote ---
You are misinformed, HLA did not operate within the laws dispensing medication when our children were there and all the way back to the mid to late 90's . Unsupervised, uneducated night staff, receptionists that didn't even go trade school were handing out meds...Do you not get it? Children were handed the wrong psychotropic drugs or the children didn't recieve them. Buccellatto only skimmed by with out of court settlements in so many areas it would make ones head spin. For Gods' sake the tending psychiatrist said Buccellato wanted him to take the kids off their meds a month before graduation, so they would go nuts and have to stay. His name Horwitz M.D. (a real M.D.) and he wouldn't do it because he feared for the children's health, he wouldn't take that responsibility, he cited his oath, he was fired, he wrote a letter to the parents, he spoke with attorneys and the saga went on with several more Psychiatrists.
TheWho:
Definitely beating a dead horse here and apologize for my repetition but from what I read none of that is illegal, The guy hired several nurses, so it wasn’t like he was ignoring the laws. He had a pharmacy technician on site at one point so he was aware and working towards doing the right thing in that area (at least on paper) and the law typically allows for interim plans to cover employee loss maybe he exploited these loop holes in the law to get by. As far as I know the law only stipulates that the person dispensing meds have only a GED and some on the job training.
I am not sure why he kept hiring nurses in the first place and paying that salary when he could get away with a pharmacy tech with a GED for $10/hour. For short money he could have had a visiting nurse come in for a few hours to set things up for the week or on an as needed basis. That would have been much cheaper.
From a parents perspective, I would never send my kid there especially after reading pieces of the lawsuit and the blatant disregard for the kids safety.
Anonymous:
I remember when I sent those questions to Charles - he was quite annoyed with my persistence. We were told there was a full-time nurse on staff 7 days a week, which turned out not to be the case. As a matter of fact we were never even told when a nurse quit or was fired - we had to hear it from our children.
I will agree the term "Child Care Worker" is a loosely defined term and HLA may have been operating within the law IF they were licensed by ORS at the time. However, HLA wasn't licensed and we were told the monies we were paying for our children to attend HLA included a full-time nurse on staff. They staff dispensing medications weren't handing out a Tylenol or Tums - they were dispensing medications that the kids needed for psychological disorders, as well as serious physical conditions such as diabetes. Given the serious nature of the medications, and the impact on the kids' mental and physical health, the person dispensing those medications should have been trained to look at the medications to identify the medications to ensure the kids were receiving the correct medications, as well as to observe any mental or physical changes with the kids.
Again, we were sold one thing (a full-time nurse) and we received another (receptionist handing out meds).
http://rules.sos.state.ga.us/docs/290/2/5/12.pdf
--- Quote from: "Jill Ryan" ----------------- Original message --------------
From: " Charles Cates " <headmaster@hiddenlakeacademy.com>
Let me respond to your questions.
Though information has been sent re; these questions, we are updating the Web site to include these changes.
1. There is a Practical nurse on campus in the Dispensary. Students in need of a doctor are scheduled for off campus appointments asap.< /SPAN>
2. Students who see a Psychiatrist are taken to an appointment off campus. There is a charge for transportation.
3. Meds are given by the Dispensary staff which includes a Pharmacy Technician.
4. Clay Erickson does not practice medicine and is not a Licensed Physician.
Please understand that we have and will continue to be diligent to provide for the medical needs of our students. Our new procedure better establishes a relationship between parent and physicians.
If you have specific questions, you may contact Clay Erickson directly.
Charles W Cates, Ph,
Headmaster
Hidden Lake Academy
-------------- Forwarded Message: --------------
From: "Charles Cates" <headmaster@hiddenlakeacademy.com>
To:
Subject: RE: Clarification on Frequent Questions
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 20:34:55 +0000
LPN- Full time.
Charles W Cates, PhD
Headmaster
Hidden Lake Academy
--- End quote ---
Anonymous:
I believe there was confusion as well because the rules for Outdoor Therapeutic camps, such as Ridge Creek, have different rules. And Ridge Creek was found to be in violations of the rules regarding the administering and dispensing of medications. Still, it doesn't matter. Unqualified individuals were administering and dispending medications.
So the big question is now that Hidden Lake is really Ridge Creek which set of rules apply? I'd like the ORS to answer that question.
Here are the rules for OTCs:
http://rules.sos.state.ga.us/docs/290/2/7/10.pdf
TheWho:
Reading thru the documents it seems the rules are fairly wide open as far as the qualifications of the person dispensing the medication. Virtually anyone can dispense drugs. If RCS is licensed and overseen by a regulatory agency then they will be monitoring the process of medication control and distribution.
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