Friends Hospital

Friends Hospital, a 197-year-old psychiatric facility in Northeast Philadelphia, has been dropped as a network provider by the company that manages mental health care for low-income patients in Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties. Magellan Health Services would not say why it made the move - effective June 18 - but a Delaware County official said it came after a whistleblower alleged that staffing levels were inadequate at Friends. The hospital denied the allegations and said it planned to "vigorously appeal" the decision with the company this month.

Friends Hospital said Wednesday that it had been restored as a network provider by the company that manages most mental health care for low-income suburban patients, having allayed concerns about staffing levels. A spokeswoman for Magellan Health Services confirmed that Friends, the psychiatric hospital in Northeast Philadelphia, was back in its network as of Monday for patients in Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties, though she declined to say why. Friends was dropped from the Magellan network on June 18 after allegations of overcrowding, but successfully appealed that decision by demonstrating that the concern was unfounded, hospital chief executive officer Ken Glass said.

When they first met in 1813, seven Philadelphia Quakers called themselves the Contributors to the Asylum for Persons Deprived of the Use of their Reason. Today, the organization they founded - now called the Corporation of Friends Hospital - remains alive and well. Its name and members have changed, but not its purpose. And the hospital still maintains its original peaceful, parklike setting at Roosevelt Boulevard and Adams Avenue. This year, the hospital is celebrating its 175th anniversary.

Friends Hospital is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Garden Days this year and is seeking old photographs showing what the hospital's gardens looked like in their early years. "I think there are a lot of photographs out there, and we'd like to put them on display at this year's show," said Judy Kelius, a hospital spokeswoman. "We would also like to use the photographs to put in our general records. " Garden Days marks the only time during the year that the hospital grounds are open to the public.

What better way to take a load off your mind than to get out into the garden and wage war on weeds? It's good for the healthy. It's good for the troubled. "Ever since this hospital was founded in 1813," Kristen Rawlings was saying the other day, Quakers "have used the environment as a healing tool for patients. " Rawlings is spokeswoman for Friends Hospital, the Quaker-run psychiatric institution on Roosevelt Boulevard at Adams Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia. There were about 275 volunteers out on the hospital's 100 acres Saturday in an event that helped the hospital prepare for its annual Garden Days, May 7 and 14, when the public is invited to view the grounds.

Philadelphia police are investigating the whereabouts of a Port Richmond woman described by a relative as schizophrenic and suicidal who left Friends Hospital on Friday. Elizabeth "Bettyann" Sherman, 48, was committed to the hospital Thursday night, according to her niece Jennifer Sherman-Wenig, who said she had signed the commitment papers. At 7:45 p.m. Friday, Sherman-Wenig said, she received a call from a nurse at the hospital who said her aunt had "escaped" at 5 p.m. Police reports, however, indicate that Sherman checked herself out of the hospital, said Officer Tanya Little, a police spokeswoman.

City health officials will no longer refer emergency psychiatric cases to Friends Hospital, in part because a broken camera system prevented staff from monitoring a patient who committed suicide, state regulators said. Delaware County already has stopped sending patients to the Crisis Response Center at the Northeast Philadelphia hospital, and also no longer sends patients to the hospital's inpatient unit, state officials said. Philadelphia's move will take effect by July 1, said Gary Brown, a spokesman for the city Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services.

It started as a reward for getting with the program. Every time Gerry Cohen cooperated and participated in her therapy sessions, she was allowed to make a paper flower. They were "so simple" to make, too. Just seven pieces of tissue paper and a hunk of wire. Cohen could "whip them out" in minutes. She'd keep the flowers and hang them on the mirror in her bedroom. "They were so pretty and bright," recalls Cohen. "They made my spirits a little brighter. They made me happy. " But there was more to therapy than paper flowers, something Cohen didn't always realize.

Friends Hospital, the historic but embattled psychiatric hospital in Northeast Philadelphia, has hired a new chief executive officer with Philadelphia roots, and experience as both a clinician and administrator. Kenneth Glass, 44, comes to Friends from the North Philadelphia Health System, where he was senior vice president of behavioral medicine. The system consists of two small facilities, Girard Medical Center and St. Joseph's Hospital, in North Philadelphia. Friends is regrouping after allegations from city, county, and state officials that it at times provided insufficient oversight of patients, including in April, when a patient committed suicide.

A Philadelphia in-patient facilty operated by Psychiatric Solutions Inc., Franklin, Tenn., received a subpoena last week from the U.S. Department of Justice requesting documents, the company said today in a report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Psychiatric Sokutions did not say what kind of documents were requested or name the facility, but it said it would comply. The company owns Friends Hospital in Philadelphia, Brooke Glen Behavioral Hospital in Fort Washington and Summit Oaks Hospital in Summit, N.J. The company agreed to be purchased by King of Prussia-based Universal Health Services, Inc. in May.    -Stacey Burling

Friends Hospital said Wednesday that it had been restored as a network provider by the company that manages most mental health care for low-income suburban patients, having allayed concerns about staffing levels. A spokeswoman for Magellan Health Services confirmed that Friends, the psychiatric hospital in Northeast Philadelphia, was back in its network as of Monday for patients in Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties, though she declined to say why. Friends was dropped from the Magellan network on June 18 after allegations of overcrowding, but successfully appealed that decision by demonstrating that the concern was unfounded, hospital chief executive officer Ken Glass said.

Friends Hospital, a 197-year-old psychiatric facility in Northeast Philadelphia, has been dropped as a network provider by the company that manages mental health care for low-income patients in Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties. Magellan Health Services would not say why it made the move - effective June 18 - but a Delaware County official said it came after a whistleblower alleged that staffing levels were inadequate at Friends. The hospital denied the allegations and said it planned to "vigorously appeal" the decision with the company this month.

In 1813, members of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends established the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason. They built the hospital on a 52-acre farm in the city's Frankford section. When it first opened to patients on May 15, 1817, the hospital was the first private institution in America dedicated exclusively to the care of the mentally ill. Besides providing medical aid, the asylum's constitution stated that the hospital would give "sympathetic attention and religious oversight" in order to "soothe [the patients']

Friends Hospital, the historic but embattled psychiatric hospital in Northeast Philadelphia, has hired a new chief executive officer with Philadelphia roots, and experience as both a clinician and administrator. Kenneth Glass, 44, comes to Friends from the North Philadelphia Health System, where he was senior vice president of behavioral medicine. The system consists of two small facilities, Girard Medical Center and St. Joseph's Hospital, in North Philadelphia. Friends is regrouping after allegations from city, county, and state officials that it at times provided insufficient oversight of patients, including in April, when a patient committed suicide.

Friends Hospital, the historic psychiatric treatment center in Northeast Philadelphia, has replaced its chief executive officer after state and city regulators accused the facility of inadequate oversight of patients, including one who committed suicide. The officials' concerns focused on the hospital's "crisis response center" - the equivalent of an emergency room - where the patient committed suicide in April. Separately, Delaware County stopped referring patients to the inpatient unit at Friends because of the suicide, general security concerns, and "allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior," a county official said.

Philadelphia police are investigating the whereabouts of a Port Richmond woman described by a relative as schizophrenic and suicidal who left Friends Hospital on Friday. Elizabeth "Bettyann" Sherman, 48, was committed to the hospital Thursday night, according to her niece Jennifer Sherman-Wenig, who said she had signed the commitment papers. At 7:45 p.m. Friday, Sherman-Wenig said, she received a call from a nurse at the hospital who said her aunt had "escaped" at 5 p.m. Police reports, however, indicate that Sherman checked herself out of the hospital, said Officer Tanya Little, a police spokeswoman.

City health officials will no longer refer emergency psychiatric cases to Friends Hospital, in part because a broken camera system prevented staff from monitoring a patient who committed suicide, state regulators said. Delaware County already has stopped sending patients to the Crisis Response Center at the Northeast Philadelphia hospital, and also no longer sends patients to the hospital's inpatient unit, state officials said. Philadelphia's move will take effect by July 1, said Gary Brown, a spokesman for the city Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services.

Today, Tomorrow and Sunday Orchid Show and Sale , sponsored by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Orchid Society, with exhibits by regional orchid societies and orchid vendors from the continental United States, Hawaii and South America; noon to 5 p.m. today, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday. Free with admission: $16; $14 seniors ages 62 and over; $6 students ages 5 to 22; ages 4 and under free. Show and sale run in conjunction with Longwood Gardens' Orchid Extravaganza displays and special exhibits.

Next week, Wayne A. Mugrauer, 54, begins his new job as president of the Hospital and Higher Education Facilities Authority of Philadelphia - the group that provides low-interest, long-term, tax-exempt financing to nonprofit hospitals and educational facilities. And that, Mugrauer said, puts him in the center of the region's economy, with its many hospitals and universities. "This group has had a huge impact on the growth and development of health care in the last 25 years," said Mugrauer, who has been a business consultant since he left his job as chief executive officer of Friends Hospital in 2004.