Search continues for missing mental patient Mouy TangThursday, September 4, 2008
By BETH SHAYNE
NewsChannel 36 (WCNC, North Carolina, USA)
FALLSTON, N.C.-- Crews in Cleveland County are searching for a patient of an assisted living facility, missing since Wednesday morning.
The State Bureau of Investigation joined the search Wednesday. Mouy Tang was last seen at Unique Living in Fallston before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. She was spotted walking near the Philadelphia Road home later in the morning, and hasn’t been seen since.
A helicopter search turned up nothing Wednesday. Crews on ATVs and on foot searched Thursday. Cadaver dogs also joined in late in the day.
Tang is 45 and a native of Cambodia. She is diabetic and hasn’t had medicine since Wednesday morning. It’s feared she hasn’t eaten. She is also schizophrenic. Her English is poor at best.
She’s lived at Unique Living for at least 15 years, and we’re told she has help even navigating the dining room there.
For search crews from Cleveland County, the task of finding Tang must feel like déjà vu. Unique Living has a history of missing patients. One incident turned tragic. In 2006, Kelly “Buck” Whitesides was found dead six days after he went missing from the assisted living facility.
The county’s social services director John Wasson blames the way the home is licensed. Mentally ill patients like Tang make up most of the residents but Unique Living is technically an assisted living facility.
“Basically, you have an unlicensed mental hospital in the middle of Fallston, North Carolina,” Wasson said.
After years of incidents, including two other accidental deaths, Wasson wrote the state in a letter dated June 20, 2008. He asked that the state regulatory board suspend admissions for Unique Living while they put a Temporary Manager in charge.
The letter cites a long list of complaints against Unique Living, including charges of verbal abuse from staff, a lack of locks, and a water shut-off that left the facility without water for hours on several occasions.
New management, the letter says, is not solving the problem.
It says, “Given past history, it is only a matter of time before a resident or residents are injured or harmed in some way as a direct result of the apparent mismanagement of this troubled facility.”
Wasson says, “Basically, they’ve ignored our letter…and I feel the [state agency] has defaulted on its responsibility.”
Officials from the state visited in July. Their report notes dirty mattresses and pillows, and broken or non-existence alarms on exit doors. Their acting director of Health Service Regulation tells NewsChannel 36 that the problems did not rise to the level that would warrant a state takeover.
The State Bureau of Investigation joined the search Wednesday. Mouy Tang was last seen at Unique Living in Fallston before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. She was spotted walking near the Philadelphia Road home later in the morning, and hasn’t been seen since.
A helicopter search turned up nothing Wednesday. Crews on ATVs and on foot searched Thursday. Cadaver dogs also joined in late in the day.
Tang is 45 and a native of Cambodia. She is diabetic and hasn’t had medicine since Wednesday morning. It’s feared she hasn’t eaten. She is also schizophrenic. Her English is poor at best.
She’s lived at Unique Living for at least 15 years, and we’re told she has help even navigating the dining room there.
For search crews from Cleveland County, the task of finding Tang must feel like déjà vu. Unique Living has a history of missing patients. One incident turned tragic. In 2006, Kelly “Buck” Whitesides was found dead six days after he went missing from the assisted living facility.
The county’s social services director John Wasson blames the way the home is licensed. Mentally ill patients like Tang make up most of the residents but Unique Living is technically an assisted living facility.
“Basically, you have an unlicensed mental hospital in the middle of Fallston, North Carolina,” Wasson said.
After years of incidents, including two other accidental deaths, Wasson wrote the state in a letter dated June 20, 2008. He asked that the state regulatory board suspend admissions for Unique Living while they put a Temporary Manager in charge.
The letter cites a long list of complaints against Unique Living, including charges of verbal abuse from staff, a lack of locks, and a water shut-off that left the facility without water for hours on several occasions.
New management, the letter says, is not solving the problem.
It says, “Given past history, it is only a matter of time before a resident or residents are injured or harmed in some way as a direct result of the apparent mismanagement of this troubled facility.”
Wasson says, “Basically, they’ve ignored our letter…and I feel the [state agency] has defaulted on its responsibility.”
Officials from the state visited in July. Their report notes dirty mattresses and pillows, and broken or non-existence alarms on exit doors. Their acting director of Health Service Regulation tells NewsChannel 36 that the problems did not rise to the level that would warrant a state takeover.
3 comments:
cambodia needs a lot of psychiatric and psychological intervention because without this our people will suffer. even in the affluent USA, this kind of problem do exist, so cambodia is no exception, either. god bless cambodia.
there ought to be a safe shelter for victims of psychiatric or psychological problem to go to. this is one area gov't can ask the USA to help provide shelters or center for psychiatric and psychological intervention like some sort of rehabilitation center or something like that so people with this kind of problem can come for help. the same with domestic violent etc... god bless.
My applaud to both of the above post. This can only accomplished by an educated human being like you both who genuine concern is for others/our people to be well. However, I regret to inform you that our government doesn't even give a damn about the well-being much less attempt to help the needy or the unwell? My advice to you is,.... if you should travel to Cambodia one day and found the "unwell" on the street, please get them off the road before Hun Sen and his entourage ran them over.
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