Faith Myers & Dorrance Collins' Advocacy
VIDEO
Faith Myers was PsychRights' first client, which resulted in the
Myers v. Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API)
Decision on June 30, 2006, holding Alaska's forced psychiatric drugging statute
unconstitutional for not requiring the court to find the drugging to be in the
patient's best interest and there are no less restrictive alternatives
available. Ms. Myers and her partner, Dorrance Collins, have since then
been very active advocates for patients at API on a number of important issues.
One is patient's right to Gender Choice for intimate care.
Faith and Dorrance have also been advocating for a fair
Grievance Policy . When they made substantial progress with the API
Governing Body over the grievance policy issue, API
made moves to downgrade its authority. Finally, Ms. Myers and Mr. Collins
have been advocating for mixing the Forensic Patients ,
which are those who are transferred to API for various reasons associated with
the criminal justice system in with the other units.
Gender Choice
Many patients, both men and women, have been the victim of sexual abuse and
having someone of the abusing sex come into the bathroom, shower, etc., can be
very retraumatizing. Due almost exclusively to Mr. Collins' and Ms. Myers'
advocacy, the Alaska Legislature passed
SB8 , mandating patient choice, in the waning hours of the 2008 Session.
See , News Release . On
April 19, 2008, Lisa Demer of the Anchorage Daily News wrote a story about their
advocacy,
Proponents overjoyed at API bill passage: Law ensures patients may choose gender
of caregiver . The picture to the right is from that story.
Grievance Policies
July 5,
2012 News Release
2/3/2011 Letter to Editor
(Anchorage Daily News).
9-28-06Ltr2Legislators.pdf
9-29-06POrtnerE-mail.pdf
10-4-06ltr2AMHB.pdf
10-23-06Ltr2AMHB.pdf
12-26-06LtreSupport.pdf
12-26-2006NewsRelease.pdf
1/2/2007, Letter
from Division of Licensing not to look into API's compliance with AS
47.30.847 .
2/1/2007, Letter from AMHB saying it unanimously passed a resolution
supporting the revision of AS 47.30.847.
2-20-07Ltr2APGoverningBd.pdf
5-3-07FM-DCltr.pdf
5-11-07RecommendedChanges.pdf
5-14-07AMHBTestimony.pdf
5-30-07AMHTA.pdf
Grantee Grievance Policies as of August, 2007 . 74
Megabytes!!!!
August 17, 2007,
Preliminary Report: Are the Grievance Procedure Requirements for
Grantees, Administrative Codes, Grievance Procedure Statutes fair to
psychiatric patients and Behavioral Health Grantee's clients?
September
3, 2007 letter to J. Jessee, Executive Director of the Alaska Mental
Health Trust Authority
September 6, 2007, Dorrance Collins and Faith Myers testimony to the
Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority .
September 20, 2007,
letter to the Alaska Mental Health Board and the Advisory Board on
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse.
Current
grievance procedures for Alaskan patients, many of which have a
disability; dementia, psychiatric disorder, developmental disabilities,
September 24, 2007.
October 4, 2007, letter
to Andrea Schmook, chair of the Alaska Mental Health Board.
New API
Grievance Policy adopted October 31, 2007.
November 14,
2007 Myers/Collins News Release.
10/15/07 Letter
to Governor Palin
11/21/07 Letter to Commissioner Jackson, re: whether Providence's
Psychiatric Emergency Room has to abide by the grievance regulations.
11/26/07 News Release
12/7/2007
Letter to Commissioner Jackson regarding response to November 21st
letter.
December 17, 2007,
letter to William Doolittle, M.D., Chair of the Alaska Mental Health
Trust Authority
12/21/07
Letter from Commissioner Jackson
12/27/07
Letter to Bill Herman
12/31/2007
Letter to Commissioner Jackson
January
3, 2008, Letter from Commissioner Jackson saying Providence does not
have to comply with the State's grievance law .
1/7/08 Letter
to Senator Bettye Davis regarding Senate Bill 186
1/9/08 News Release regarding Senate Bill 186
January
3, 2008, letter from Commissioner Jackson to Faith Myers and Dorrance
Collins .
January 24, 2008, Dorrance Collins
Testimony to API Governing Board
January 24, 2008, Faith Testimony to
API Governing Board
January 28, 2008, letter to Governor
Sarah Palin
February 4, 2008, Testimony of
Faith Myers to Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority
February 4, 2008, Testimony of
Dorrance to Alaska Mental Health Trust Authorit
February 9, 2008,
letter to Sen. Betty Davis
February 13 2008, letter to Jeff Jessee,
Executive Director of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority
February 22, 2008, letter to Dave Fleurant, Executive Director of the Disability Law Center.
March 13, 2008, letter
from the Disability Law Center to Faith Myers and Dorrance Collins .
March 24, 2008, letter
from the Disability Law Center to Faith Myers and Dorrance Collins .
March 14, 2008, letter from
J. Kate Burkhart, Executive Director of the Alaska Mental Health Board
to Faith Myers and Dorrance Collins
March 20,
2008, letter from Faith Myers and Dorrance Collins to Andrea Schmook,
chair of the Alaska Mental Health Board
March 21, 2008, letter from
J. Kate Burkhart, to Faith Myers and Dorrance Collins.
March 25, 2008, letter
from Faith Myers and Dorrance Collins to J. Kate Burkhart, Executive
Director of the Alaska Mental Health Board
March 31, 2008,
letter from Jim Gottstein, CEO & President of the Law Project for
Psychiatric Rights to Faith Myers and Dorrance Collins .
April 19, 2008,
letter from Faith Myers and Dorrance Collins regarding Ron Adler's
mendacity.
October 16, 2008, Ombudsman Response
to Faith Myers and Dorrance Collins Complain t.
Abuse and Neglect Investigation: Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API) API
Violates Patients' Rights in Handling Patients' Grievances Issued April 5,
2011. Revised and reissued July 13, 2011
May 2, 2013,
Department of Health and Social Services non-answer to what impartial body
means in grievance statute .
February 12, 2012, Minority Report to
the API Advisory Board Quality Assurance Committee , by Dorrance
Collins.
September 26, 2013,
Ombudsman letter stating psychiatric facilities are not required to post
information about agencies who will help with complaints.
October 9, 2015,
Ombudsman letter stating she will not consider complaint about the Alaska
Psychiatric Institute's grievance procedures because Faith Myers and
Dorrance Collins had not been harmed by it within a year and hadn't
received other complaints .
Forensic Patients
API Governing Body
Miscellaneous/Combined
April 23, 2024,
The Tragedy
and Lessons from Morningside Hospital , with Excerpts from the 1958
"Overholser Report."
8/29/08 Faith Myers and
Dorrance Collins Report on an Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority Committee
and related materials. 11/26/07, letter to
Andrea Schmook, chair of the Alaska Mental Health Board.
11/30/07, letter to Rep. Les Gara regarding banning guns. 12/5/07, Letter to the
Editor 12/7/07, API "Dashboard
Comparison." February 13, 2008, letter to Kate
Burkehart of the Alaska Mental Health Board
Last modified 4/23/2024
