Colleagues Reflect on Va. Psychiatrist’s Tenure as MH Inspector General

Not surprisingly, Virginia psychiatrists are quite pleased that government officials have created an office of inspector general for Virginia’s public mental health system. “I think it is good to have somebody in the field of medicine and psychiatry, someone like Dr. Anita Everett, who can look objectively at very emotional issues and recommend good system fixes,” Jorge Cortina, M.D., a geriatric psychiatrist with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Hampton, Va., told Psychiatric News.

“It was certainly a good idea that such a position was created,” J. Gregory Fisher, M.D., a Lynchburg, Va., psychiatrist and president-elect of the Psychiatric Society of Virginia, said in an interview, “because unfortunately Virginia’s state mental hospitals, like those in a lot of states, have had a checkered history. I think the state has worked hard to improve the mental health system and get above board, but I think the position of inspector general has helped with that process significantly.”

Virginia psychiatrists are quite pleased with Everett’s performance as inspector general. “She has done an excellent job,” opined Charles Davis, M.D., medical director of Central State Hospital in Petersburg, Va., which is one of the public mental health facilities under Everett’s purview. “It is a demanding and difficult role. The state hospitals are where the most troubled individuals go. And many times they are prone to behaviors that may be injurious to themselves or others, which are difficult for the public to understand. . . .”

“She fills a vital function in terms of people knowing that their system is being looked at by someone who insists that a good job must be done, but who is also on their side,” asserted John Shemo, M.D., a Charlottesville, Va., psychiatrist and a district branch representative to the APA Assembly. “She doesn’t have any agenda other than having the system work better. . . .”

“Although I do not work in the state mental health system, I do know that I am reading less about our state mental hospitals in the newspapers than I was several years ago,” Fisher said. “That indicates that Dr. Everett has made a positive difference.”

Virginia psychiatrists have a list of objectives that they would like Everett to achieve in the time that she has left as inspector general.

“I would like to see more coordination or tightening of relations between the public and private mental health sectors,” Fisher said. “I’m not sure how she could achieve that in her position. However, there is currently a lack of working together between the two sectors, and anything that could be done on either side to ameliorate the situation would be of value.”

“I hope that she’ll be able to influence the dumping of patients out of the state mental hospitals,” Shemo asserted. “There are a lot of patients in our state, as in every state, who either end up in the prison system or in poorly funded domiciles where there is no real care or protection. I know that Anita feels strongly about these issues. In the APA Assembly, she was able to help get a block of five action papers passed, all of which specifically addressed the needs of the severely and persistently mentally ill.”

“I think that the people with power in our state—the governor, legislature, department of mental health—are pleased with her work,” David Markowitz, M.D., a Richmond, Va., psychiatrist and president of the Psychiatric Society of Virginia, opined. “So I don’t think there is anyone who would like to see the position of inspector general go. But at the same time, everybody protects their own piece of the pocketbook. So I wish that she could find some way to transition her position into a permanent one to help the public mental health system.” ▪