Allegations Against Brea Hospital Clinic

I was dismayed to read the article detailing the so-called deficiencies of Brea Hospital Neuropsychiatric Center (March 26).

I am on staff at Brea as well as several other psychiatric hospitals in Southern California. The allegations put forth by the two former administrators sound to me like sour grapes by individuals who have a vendetta against the hospital. Brea is basically no different than any of the other psychiatric hospitals with which I am intimately familiar.

There is nothing substandard about the quality of care at Brea in comparison to other psychiatric hospitals in this area. Specifically, the staffing level and patient monitoring differ very little from hospital to hospital. If anything, the commitment and level of care by the nursing staff at Brea are better than at many of its competitors. In fact, the majority of my patients who have been through the Brea treatment program have been very satisfied with therapeutic gains they made there.

Quality of a patient’s care must always be the first priority of any therapist. Clearly, the potential for abuse is high, and each therapist and hospital must always make a distinction between therapeutic and economic decisions. Any therapist or doctor who bases his or her professional decisions on economic gain should not be in the business of helping people.

Brea Hospital may be as guilty as any hospital in attempting to fill as many beds possible. The point is, Brea is not any more guilty than any other institution. Any patient harmed by decisions based on economic gain is harmed by the system in general and the greed of individual doctors and therapists specifically.

DOUGLAS R. KEENE

Irvine