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Veteran superintendent remembers the day vast improvements began for Kansans with developmental disabilities
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People who know Dr. Gary Daniels and have followed his career as superintendent of Parsons State Hospital (PSH) in Parsons point to four values he adheres to that set him apart: * A strong belief in quality management; * A belief in working closely with the community; * A belief in never letting state bureaucracy get in the way of providing services at the hospital; and * A tremendous belief in people with disabilities, and in doing everything in his power to help them lead successful, happy lives. |
Dr. Daniels has been superintendent at PSH since 1979. The federal regulator who is charged with conducting surveys of Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded, as PSH is classified federally, left little doubt that Dr. Daniel's work has been successful.
"He does have the finest state-run ICF-MR in the country," said Myron Reinke, Health Quality Review Specialist for the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services's (CMS) Region 7 office in Kansas City. "The environment at Parsons is probably the best, the greatest, of any state institution. And that's the truth."
Dr. Daniels remembers the day major change began for persons with developmental disabilities in Kansas. Dr. Robert Day, who now directs the Kansas Medicaid program for the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services but formerly was superintendent at the Kansas Neurological Institute, agreed with his timing.
That day, Dr. Daniels and Dr. Day sat on opposite sides of the audience at a conference in Wichita, listening intently to a talk by Michael Smull, director of the Support Development Associates, Annapolis Md. When the talk was over, they hurried separately to meet the speaker and get more information.
"Our eyes met," said Dr. Daniels about he and Dr. Day. "This was it; this was what we were looking for. Then we both took off from there."
It was also an epiphany for Dr. Day.
"When Michael said ‘all human beings have needs and wants and they tell you what they are all the time,' this gave us a new way to conceptualize," he said.
What those two men heard that day at a 1993 conference on developmental disabilities gave them the model that they implemented to change the treatment model in Kansas for persons with developmental disabilities. Their work led to vast improvement in the lives of persons with developmental disabilities.
As a federal regulator, Mr. Reinke has witnessed the changes.
"Bob Day was first, but Gary picked it up and used it more prolifically,"
he said. "I say that with great respect. We needed Bob to cut through
barriers, but Gary put the finishing touches on it."
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Mr. Smull, who is a nationally recognized advocate for persons with developmental disabilities, said both Dr. Daniels and Dr. Day had the background and knowledge to hear the information he was giving and use it as a framework to make significant changes in serving persons with developmental disabilities. Mr. Smull said he just gave them a new framework. He also praised the work of both men in changing the institutions they ran. |
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"There are institutions trying to justify their own existence and there are institutions helping people get better lives and acquire needed skills," he said. "Parsons and KNI clearly are trying to do that, and that makes them exceptional."
Mr. Reinke said his agency asked Dr. Daniels to bring his expertise concerning person-centered planning into nursing homes caring for the frail elderly. He said Dr. Daniels and some PSH staff did training at a northwest Missouri nursing home, with great success.
"They taught them how to apply the model, and it's the most outstanding model in the nation," Mr. Reinke said. "It brought a totally different paradigm for long term care residents."
George Vega, now executive director of human resources for SRS and former commissioner of Mental Health and Retardation Services for the agency, agreed that Dr. Day and Dr. Daniels led major changes implementing person centered planning for people with developmental disabilities. Mr. Vega said people in central office knew the model and understood the changes needed; Dr. Day and Dr. Daniels implemented those changes.
"Gary and Bob figured out how to make it work," Mr. Vega said.
Mr. Vega said PSH is a "radically changed place" since Dr. Daniels began making changes.
"You look at Parsons 15, 10 and even five years ago, and you see a radically changed place, much for the betterment of people who live there," he said. "They have choices, control over their lives. They get to do things people in institutions in the past would never have dreamed of doing. And why? Because of strong leadership, strong vision."
Dr. Daniels said the changes did not come easily.
"We moved from a deep tradition in the medical model to person-centered supports," he said. "We were more focused on prescribing what the residents should do or could do, not what they wished for or what they desired.
"We had to convince a lot of people," he said. "We had to modify the support we provided ... the medical staff, the professional support. That's what brought about cultural change."
Dr. Daniels, in many respects, is a home town boy made good. He was born in Parsons, attended school there, and even worked with his mother and sister in direct care at PSH just out of high school.
"When we got around the kitchen table, we talked hospital," he remembered.
Dr. Daniels earned his BA and Master's degrees in Psychology from Kansas State College of Pittsburg, then went on to earn a Ph.D. in Criminal Child Psychology from Ohio State University. He then found out that PSH needed a director of psychology, and answered the call. He said when he was chosen to take over as superintendent, one of the tasks was to improve relations with the community. That he has done, said Ann Charles, editor and publisher of the local newspaper, The Parsons Sun.
"It's not a hospital tucked into a corner of town," she said.
"Parsons State Hospital has a very important role in the community.
When hospital closure was being discussed, the community rallied around
the hospital to save it. The majority of it was because of the incredible
work they do out there and how well they meld into the community. And
because of how well Gary gets the word out."
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Ms. Charles said people who live at the hospital are totally accepted in town. She said this acceptance comes because of the way Dr. Daniels works to integrate the hospital and the community. "You go to a movie theater, to Wal-Mart; they are part of us," she said. "They are our neighbors." Co-located on the PSH campus are a group of educators and researchers, many affiliated with |
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| Kansas University. The Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies at Parsons includes the Kansas University Affiliated Program and the Mental Retardation Research Center. Over the years, these programs have achieved international recognition for research, working in close cooperation with hospital staff. | |||
"There are more Ph.D's in psychology here than at most universities," said Dr. Daniels. "There's been a lot of development in the support system for developmental disabilities, not just here but nationally."
Sara Sacks, co-director of the Assistive Technology for Kansas and an Associate Professor at Kansas University at Parsons, said Dr. Daniels himself has worked with others on major research that has broken new ground. She praised his ability to work with others on problems and projects.
"He is very even-tempered, easy to talk to," said Ms. Sacks. "He's very interested in collecting all the information, hearing from all sides and listening to all sides."
Dr. Daniels agreed he is a good listener. But he said his "decentralized decision-making" technique has been useful over the years.
"I push other people to perform, to make decisions, and to be responsible," he said.
Dr. Day and Mr. Vega said Dr. Daniels keeps state bureaucracy at a distance. Dr. Day remembered once at a central office meeting, they were told a suggestion one of them made couldn't be done because it was against policy.
According to Dr. Day, "Gary said ‘Who wrote those policies? Didn't we write those policies? Then we'll just have to rewrite them.' "
Mr. Vega, who as a former commissioner supervised Dr. Daniels, agreed that Dr. Daniels won't let bureaucracy dictate what he should be doing.
"I think that's fine," Mr. Vega said. "We too often allow bureaucracy to dictate what we do with customers...the ‘can't do that' policies. Gary is not that kind of person. I said he was a leader; I didn't say he was compliant. He's added value in a significant way."
Dr. Daniels said one of the first things he did after being appointed superintendent was establish a parent's advisory group, which was called the Citizen's Advisory Group. That group later split to add the Parsons State Hospital Endowment Association, which helps raise funds to support residents.
Things the Endowment Association has funded include: Creation of a bus system allowing residents to easily travel to visit relatives; providing start-up funding for creation of a resident-run screen print business, a business that makes money for residents; and, creation of an annual rodeo for people with disabilities. The endowment association also built an arena for the rodeo on hospital grounds and plans to develop an indoor arena.
"We just completed our 21st annual rodeo," Dr. Daniels said. "We had 282 participants, 85 from this hospital and the rest from communities across Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas."
PSH also has been a leader in the development of state-of-the-art computer systems, moving to personal computers and on to internet-based communications long before the rest of the state government. The Applications Software Development Project, a joint effort among state hospitals, is located at PSH.
But to those who know the work done by Dr. Daniels, the bottom line has been caring about people. Dr. Day said his colleague has been "clever about finances," "politically astute," and "not your typical administrator."
But, he added "at the core of everything for Gary, it's always about the person. The thing about Gary – a guy who runs an institution – is that he would do anything that would make better outcomes for people."
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