Willowbrook: Center for Children, Essay Example

Government system is a huge machine that is meant to regulate different aspects of human life. Though its primary goal is to keep all people satisfied within the country by means of providing various services and control over strategic resources, there are a lot of issues, which arise when the system fails to manage them adequately. Public health care system is one of those fields, where ineffective supervision of medical institutions can have unpredictable and terrible consequences. Willowbrook State School for mentally disabled children is an example of both government officials’ and health care center administration’s failure to provide patients with effective treatment. Moreover, an institution, that was meant to help children, turned to be a place of neglect, rape, and abuse.

Willowbrook State School was situated on the now CUNY campus of Staten Island. In 1938, a plan was developed to construct a facility for mentally disabled people. “Construction was completed in 1942, but instead of opening for its original purpose, it was converted into a United States Army hospital and named Halloran General Hospital, after the late Colonel Paul Stacey Halloran.” (Debello, 2006) In 1947, this institution was finally given in the possession of disabled children. However, the condition of the buildings was awful. According to G. Rivera, “It’s as if a group spent all its savings to buy choice land for a country club, but then ran out of money and could afford to erect only army barracks” (p. 16)

Willowbrook State School was considered to be one of the biggest health care centers for disabled children on the territory on the United States during 1947 – 1987 years. Information about the condition of children was kept privately. However, after chocking news investigations made by Gerlado Rivera, various TV channels and periodicals highlighted this issue from different perspectives. For instance, according to Time Magazine article in 1972, “[Willowbrook] resembles Sartre’s vision of Hell. Bare and high-ceilinged, its walls covered with flaking green paint, the room is redolent of sweat, urine, excrement – and despair.” (Smith 2008) The Eye Witness Investigators uncovered secret medical testing of hepatitis, which were held in Willowbrook School.

Geraldo Rivera, a television reporter, was the first person who has accidentally noticed the facts of abuse and neglect in Willowbrook. In fact, it was Mike Wilson who has contacted journalist and asked him to highlight the situation in mass media. G. Rivera is writing in his book about what he has seen in the building No. 6:

… I have done perhaps 800 stories. In that time I have seen families burned out of their homes. I have stepped over people killed in robberies, family fights, and in mass violence. I’ve watched people dying from gunfire, from disease, and from drugs. I thought I have seen the most wretched aspects of life in the City. I was wrong. (Rivera, p. 17)

TV reporter and Mike Wilson have filmed children from building No. 6 and showed the reportage on WABS-TV channel. Thousands of people have seen naked children in an overcrowded room without any facilities needed for normal life. Some of them were simply lying on the floor. Journalist has also reported that children were left without any treatment. They did not receive any education. Moreover, some of them were simply neglected by the personnel, because there was a shortage of the employees working at the Willowbrook State School. According to Time article, “By night, the children, many of whom have physical handicaps as well, sleep in closely spaced cribs. By day, they sit strapped into special chairs, recline in two-wheeled wagons that look like peddler’s pushcarts or lie listlessly on mats on the floor” (Smith 2008) The most shocking fact is that both government officials and the administration of the health center knew about the conditions, in which children were kept, and did nothing. In her book “The Willowbrook wars”, Sheila Rothman states that “Willowbrook is a prison, and in many repects is worse that a prison.” (Rothsman, 2005) In fact, the mortality rate was officially estimated to be 3 people per month.

Carefully analyzing the events described in various sources about the Willowbrook children center, writer has determined several internal and external factors of why such situation did take place. On the one hand, production shortage and economic crisis in early 1970s has made government officials to reduce funds spent on Willowbrook State School. The average salary of medical associates was cut down to $ 115,38 per week. With a turnover of 50 employees monthly, Willowbrook center has lost 933 employees out of 3,383 (Rivera, p. 27). Doctors and nurses could no longer provide their patients with effective treatment as their job responsibilities were increased almost in 4 times as they have been several years before. Secondly, the number of patients was also growing. According to G. Rivera there were 5,268 mentally diseased children in Willowbrook, while the operating capacity of the institution was approximately 3,000 people. Secondly, administration could do nothing about personnel shortage, as their budget was limited.

WABS-TV channel has also revealed shocking information that Willowbrook children were infected with hepatitis by the scientists in order to monitor the flow of the disease and test some vaccine. “A history we’ve now learned involved secret scientific experiments on residents who were forced to drink milk shakes deliberately infected with live Hepatitis virus – all in the name of research” (Eye Witness News Investigations, 2005) This reportage has shown how hopeless were children at Willowbrook State School. Dr. David Rothman, a victim of Willowbrook State School, comments these illegal tests: “The word that runs through the consent form again and again is prevention. We are going to prevent this disease in your child. But of course, it was completely misleading. Deceitful.” (Eye Witness Investigations, 2005)

It was very difficult to evaluate the objectiveness of the information discussed in various sources as they describe events, which are hardly believable to occur in modern society. Nonetheless, the research of Geraldo Rivera, as well as the other resources, contains credible information that is supported by the evidence. For instance, journalist has filmed the room, where mentally diseased children were kept. Secondly, “the publicity generated by the case was a major contributing factor to the passage of a federal law, called the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) of 1980” (Parchus, 2008)

Private health insurance is one of the possible ways to eliminate such problems or at least cover certain percentage of the expenses, which are connected with treating mentally diseased people. On the one hand, it might definitely improve the situation at Willowbrook State School. On the other, it could both localize the problem and protect human right of thousands of children. Secondly, the conditions, in which mentally diseased children were kept, were so bad, because no one simply paid any attention to the treatment of the patients. Therefore, various social organizations or commissions, both private and official, should constantly monitor job performance and education level of the nurses and doctors to prevent ineffective treatment and unqualified personnel hiring. The case of Willowbrook State School has shown that the work of the whole health care system was ineffective, as one on the biggest medical centers in the United States was left without any supervision.

In conclusion, I would like to mention that it is very difficult to realize that such events took place in the country, where human rights and dignity are protected by the law as nowhere else. Patients of the Willowbrook and their relatives expected that they would receive professional treatment, but they were kept as if they were in prison instead. Neglect, rape, and abuse of the children in that medical institution show the failure of our system. Unfortunately, the most shocking fact is that everything might be kept privately if no one would notice harsh conditions at the children center.

References

Debello, V. (2006). The History of the Willowbrook State School. Willowbrook State School – A voice behind the wall. Retrieved May 4, 2009 from http:/ /willowbrookstateschool.blogspot.com/2006/11/history-of-willowbrook-state-school.html.

Parchus, M. (July 3, 2008). Willowbrook. Center for Disability rights. Retrieved May 4, 2009 from http:/ /cdrnys.org/wordpress/?p=63.

Rivera, G. (1972). Willowbrook: A report on how it is and why it doesn’t have to be that Knopf Publishing Group. ISBN-13: 9780394718446

Rothman, S. (2005). The Willowbrook Wars: bringing the mentally diseased into the community. Aldine Transaction. ISBN 0202307573.

Smith, M. (2008). Echoes of Willowbrook. Retrieved May 4, 2009 from http:/ /wheelchairjunkie.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/echoes-of-willowbrook/.

The Eye Witness Investigations. (2005). Shocking New Willowbrook Legacy. Columbia University. Retrieved May, 4 2009 from http:/ /www.columbia.edu/cu/news/clips/2005/02/02/shockingnewABC.pdf.