Ethics violations shatter trust Benson: State Health Dept. executive should resign By DENYCE DUNCAN LACY PEF President Roger Benson last month called for the immediate resignation of a high level state Health Department manager, on the heels of a finding by the State Ethics Commission that the official violated the state Ethics Law. The Ethics Commission said Dennis P. Whalen, the Health Department’s executive deputy commissioner, violated the State Ethics Law by repeatedly accepting gifts and meals from two individuals who represented nursing homes with business pending before the department. The department fined Whalen one week’s pay for the violation. “We’re appalled that one of the key state officials responsible for regulating the nursing-home industry had his hand in the nursing-home-industry cookie jar,” Benson said, noting that the union represents some 3,500 employees in the state Health Department, including nursing-home inspectors. In a sharply-worded message to the department, Benson said Whalen’s actions had shattered the trust of the agency’s staff and the public. “State nursing-home inspectors must be of the highest character, given their critical duties of ensuring that nursing homes are safe and provide high quality care for the residents,” Benson added. “The leadership of the Health Department must be held to the same standard. When the state’s executive deputy health commissioner has accepted gifts from the nursing-home industry that is continually lobbying to minimize state regulation of their operation, that trust is shattered.” And Benson noted that other Health Department officials faced stiffer penalties than Whalen, for lesser offenses. For example, Joseph Chiseri was fired last year after admitting he had been offered cash by an adult-day-care operator, although Chiseri never actually accepted the money. “Whalen’s fine is only a slap on the wrist compared to the treatment of union-represented workers who have been harshly disciplined for offenses which are less severe than Whalen’s,” Benson said. “Like Joseph Chiseri, Dennis Whalen must leave the Health Department to begin to rebuild the public’s trust in the state’s nursing-home-inspection program. “Government should protect its citizens, and there is no shame in exposing corruption in public service,” Benson said. “As President Theodore Roosevelt said, “The exposure and punishment of public corruption is an honor to a nation, not a disgrace. The shame lies in toleration.” The Communicator Home Page

Lifesaving devices on the way to worksites By SHERRY HALBROOK If you are a state employee, your odds of surviving a heart attack on the job just went up. In late July, the state announced plans to put “public access defibrillation” (PAD) equipment in 22 additional state worksites. According to the state, more than a dozen state office sites had previously obtained the portable equipment and established public-access defibrillation programs. These include programs at the state Department of Correctional Services and the NYS Court System. Since the mid-1990s, at least 68 people have been treated for cardiac arrest at state Employee Health Services nursing stations operated by the state Department of Civil Service. Now, the department is providing portable, automatic, external defibrillators to 22 EHS nursing stations by the end of September. “This is an opportunity to save lives,” says PEF President Roger Benson, who praised the efforts of health and safety activists, such as those at PEF Division 399 at the state Division of Disability Determinations in Glendale and others who have pressed the state to provide this life-saving equipment. Division 399 members, who are mostly doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, began a successful campaign for a portable defibrillator after a PEF member died from a heart attack at work earlier this year. And while co-workers knew what was needed, they lacked the equipment to perform the life-saving treatment in time. “The technology has been perfected so that almost anybody could use these portable defibrillators,” Benson says. The new defibrillators are about the size of a laptop computer and designed for use by the general public. They contain electronic devices that monitor cardiac activity and administer an electric shock to the heart, when necessary, to restore normal rhythm. Based on the readings from its heart monitor, the equipment automatically tells the person operating the equipment whether an electrical shock is required. The machines will not deliver a shock for any condition other than ventricular fibrillation. Abnormal heart rhythm, called ventricular fibrillation, is the culprit in most heart attacks. Every year, more than 240,000 Americans die when their hearts suddenly stop beating — a condition called cardiac arrest. And 22,500 of those fatalities occur in New York state. Defibrillation, which was previously available only in hospitals or ambulances, is often employed to get hearts beating normally, even after they have stopped. While defibrillation is not always successful, it stands the best chance of saving a victim when it is available immediately after the problem is detected. In fact, according to the American Heart Association, your chances of surviving if your heart suddenly stops beating, can be increased by as much as 90 percent if you are treated within the first five minutes. Now, the EHS nursing stations, which already have the trained staff, will also have this life-saving equipment available for immediate use.