(Publisher’s Note: Following is correspondence composed by Dr. Norman Wood, a physician who has worked with homeless individuals and organizations during his career. He is proposing a new approach to healing the mentally ill and drug addicted who are living homeless – MIDAH – at this time, instead of tax dollars flowing to non-profit organizations for food, sanitation, and other services not focused on recovery.)
Governor Patrick Morrisey,
Dear Sir:
Due in large part to your fight in this issue, West Virginia will and have received millions of dollars in the opioid lawsuits that you championed. West Virginia applauds you, sir.
This money which now totals $1 billion was earned on the backs of almost every family in this state who suffered and fought for a loved one who was dealing with drug addiction. Many of these same individuals have mental health issues, approximately 50 percent of them, and many have died.
I propose that we use half of this money to build a new state-of-the-art State Hospital for our MIDAH, mentally ill, drug addicted, and homeless. This facility would break this devastating cycle that West Virginians have been dealing with for many decades.
Currently many of these individuals are being incarcerated in our state prison system for drug-related charges. When they get out, many will return to prison in two to three years. We have a revolving door incarceration problem in West Virginia.
I am the former Physician Director for the WV Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Approximately 80 percent of our incarcerated have drug addictions, mental illness or both. We incarcerate more than any democratic country in the world, which goes along with our drug overdose rate, which is the highest in the US.
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Dr. Norman Wood will be a guest this afternoon on River Talk Radio, 100.1 and 100.9 FM from 4-5 p.m. to discuss this letter and his proposal to heal MIDAH individuals. The River Network’s streams can be found in the App Store on your smartphone under The River Network.
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This IS West Virginia’s greatest challenge.
Our incarceration rate exploded during the last twenty years due to narcotics. If we only spend these new funds for what we have already spent on this issue, it does nothing to solve the problem. That is circular reasoning. We must have the resolve and means to change this epidemic for our state. We now have both.
West Virginian’s are ready and able to face this challenge. If you want to get something done in West Virginia, tell them it can’t be done and then step aside. Our coalminers and others from across this state proved that in North Carolina when they opened seemingly impossible new roads after the floods. When FEMA said it would take months, these West Virginian’s did it in days.
West Virginia now has the money to build a new State Hospital. This money was earned by the families here in West Virginia. This money was earned through our families’ nightmares. It is only fair and right to use this money to build a new State Hospital to where we can help current and future families who have endured so much with this devastating problem.
I have been in contact with Dr. Rita Goldstein. She is the national and international leader in research for the drug addicted. Dr. Goldstein has published over 150 research articles and she has been cited over 18,000 times.
Dr. Goldstein has done extensive research into the brain of addicted people and has been able to quantify the extent of the neurotoxic damage and how long it takes for the brain to heal after getting off narcotics. The healing process starts in three to four months and the continued healing takes up to two years. This is why community detox centers do not work.
Only about 2 to 3 percent of individuals can successfully get themselves off narcotics on their own. These are truly remarkable people and they are rare. The other 97 percent need serious, effective help. That help cannot be obtained in a community health clinic.
Those clinics are full of dedicated professionals; however, they have an impossible task when it comes to an addicted brain or a severely mentally ill patient. And a prison or jail cell is even worse for effective help. The individuals who have gone through the local detox centers have done so time and time again. Those families have spent their last dollar in trying to find help for their loved ones, and nothing is working. Now we know why.
In my conversations with Dr. Goldstein, she has agreed to assist me in creating a program where we can truly help our state. Her expertise is invaluable. All we need is a hospital to do this.
Yesterday, I visited one of West Virginia’s homeless camps near Wheeling. It now holds about twenty individuals. During warmer months, occupancy will be at least doubled. I was accompanied by a very good and compassionate doctor from Wheeling who has dedicated himself to this problem.
I asked the good doctor how many of the individuals currently living there would be able to break this cycle and live a normal life if the proper care was able to be given. He didn’t hesitate and replied 80 percent. I agree, if not an even larger percentage. But we have no place to give these people the real help that will make a difference.
95 percent or higher of the individuals in homeless camps are mentally ill, drug addicted or both. In Wheeling, there are approximately 50 homeless individuals. In the entire state we have approximately 1,500. In Seattle, where I worked, we had a homeless population of 5,000.
These individuals live day to day. Each day is a challenge of pure survival. They are trapped in their own hells, and they cannot get out on their own. I know how this works and I know how to fix it.
If we truly want to turn this state around, we must have a State Hospital. If we are to change our image, if we are to attract new businesses, if we are to increase our economic base, this must be done. And most importantly, if we want to stop the family nightmares and the four deaths that occur daily that we are now experiencing from drug overdoses, this must be done.
This is an opportune time in history for West Virginia. We must make the most of it and build us a new State Hospital.
Governor, I hope you will give this serious consideration.
Sincerely, and with Respect,
Dr. Norman Wood
