Feb. 1, 2011: Do Mass. caregiving facilities need more oversight?

Tim commented on Greater Boston on 02.03.11
Good Grief. If you are going to discuss a serious issue involving the mental health system, please get a serious person, who at a minimum knows the facts. I dont care if Michele McPhee is a conservative, but if she is going to discuss the tragic events of the past two weeks, at least get the facts correct. I lost count on how many times she had the young woman working alone with 27 males. She jumped between the group home where the young woman worked and the shelter where the young man worked as if the two were the same program. Then she jumps to prison closings, hospital closings which occurred in the Dukakis Administration. If ever an appearance was "phoned in" without any research or effort at accuracy, this was it. These two deaths were tragic and raise serious issues. I can only hope that when the Commonwealth begins to address these issues they do so with serious people with accurate information and some knowledge about the issues. I would expect and demand at least that from my government, and Im very disappointed WGBH and Greater Boston did not give this subject the kind of serious attention it deserved.

Jonas commented on Greater Boston on 02.01.11
Michelle McPhee as your guest "analyst" to critize the results of budget cuts? After she has spent her whole career claiming that all these sort of prgrams are over staffed, resulting in their budgets being cut to the bone and then she starts attacking state government for doing what she has been advocating for decades? Did you even notice that when asked where exactly mentally ill homeless people with no ability to work or support themselves should live she kept dodging the question and meanering on about Dukokis of all people? She seems to think that anyone with mental health issues should simply be imprisoned. McPhee is simply a rightwing radio idiot. Please try to have thoughtful people as guests when you are discussing serious issues that affect our community.

claire commented on Greater Boston on 02.01.11
The recent deaths of two persons involved in caregiving for individuals with significant mental illnesses deserved a much more informed and balanced discussion than todays episode with Michelle McPhee. Ms. McPhee proved herself to be wholly uninformed and politically biased and the opportunity to have a reasoned discussion about the best methods to provide community based supports to individuals with mental illnesses was totally lost. PLEASE.....I am tired of seeing Ms. McPhee given the opportunity to comment on just about anything please save her contributions for panel discussions which at least have some balance. We are daily viewers of Greater Boston and always enjoy the lively and informative episodes. This episode was a total disservice to the Greater Boston viewing community the standards of an otherwise fine and balanced television show, and most importantly to the families of the two individuals who lost their lives as well as to the thousands of Massachusetts citizens who suffer from significant mental illness.