Letters to the Editor

Proposed Closures Affect Mental Health

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

While we support, in principle, the idea that psychiatric treatment is (like other medical treatment) ideally provided in an outpatient setting convenient to the patient's home, and that inpatient care should be reserved for the person whose treatment cannot safely be provided outside a hospital, specialized inpatient programs are sometimes necessary for the severely ill.

The children and adolescents treated at the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents or Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute are seriously ill, or otherwise unable to be managed at private psychiatric hospitals (if any exist in their communities).

While we suspect that Gov. Tim Kaine, Commissioner James Reinhard, and Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Services Marilyn Tavenner are hoping that the crisis created by closing these beds will force communities to increase outpatient services -- I am not very optimistic. Recently, many physicians received letters from a local insurance company notifying us that they plan to cut Medicaid reimbursement rates to providers. Such a decrease will have a harsh impact on community mental health services.

The Virginia Council of AACAP has called on Kaine to reconsider the closure of this desperately needed safety net. In conjunction with other mental health provider groups we have asked our legislators to prevent closure of CCCA and the adolescent unit at SWVMHI. On behalf of our patients and their families, Virginia's child and adolescent psychiatrists respectfully request all Virginians to do the same.

Dorothy A. O'Keefe, M.D., President, Virginia Council, American Academy of

Richmond.

Obama Secretly Signed Abortion Funding

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Two days after the inauguration, I traveled to Washington to participate in the National March for Life. I was astounded at the hundreds of thousands of participants and gratified to see so many young Americans. I listened to several dozen speakers, including congressmen and women who promised to do their part to dialogue with our new president in support of this worthy cause.

It was with dismay and disappointment that I learned that Obama had overturned the global gag rule the next day by signing an executive order lifting restrictions on international organizations that accept funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development. In essence, this will allow millions of U.S. foreign-aid dollars to flow into international family planning programs that offer abortions or advocate for abortion rights. I was not surprised that he signed the order, but the manner in which he did it gives me pause.

Obama's first week was a busy one. He signed several executive orders, including ones on lobbying and national security. These were signed before cameras and invited guests, and all were invited to applaud them on the nightly news. However, when it came to attending to the global gag rule, he chose to do it in a low-key manner by signing it in private, releasing it late Friday, with no media coverage. Looks like that promise of transparency is becoming opaque mighty quickly.

Ann F. McCulla. Richmond.

Do Your Part: Start Composting

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Not only are we saving money and fossil fuels in terms of plastic garbage bags, transportation to the dump, and storage space in a landfill, we are facilitating a continuous feedback loop of positive consumption to fertilize our garden soil. Our local vegetables are ripe with economic and environmental benefits! Buying local Virginia-grown agriculture, and/or growing your own, greatly helps the local economy, keeping farmers on their land, and financial revenues circulating in the local economic infrastructure.

Composting is one way I address global warming. We can all contribute our share in decreasing our carbon footprints. Food waste in a landfill produces methane as it breaks down due to the lack of oxygen. Consequently, methane, a greenhouse gas several times more heat-trapping than CO2, is globally on the rise from industrial farming operations, landfill emissions, and other forms of inefficient waste disposal.

While composting is a little easier in a rural area, composting is certainly viable in towns and cities. It takes only a small corner to establish a place for decomposition. The more organic material added, from leaves to apple cores to coffee grounds, will only increase rates of decomposition into rich garden fertilizer. Establishing a community garden may be the kind of community-empowering service our nation has recently been called upon to lead by example, all across the United States. Cheers to service and efficiency!

Melissa Earley. Charlotte Court House.