The Key West Citizen

Dr. Wardlaw Clarifies Dept. Move
Dr. J. L. Wardlaw, head of the Monroe County health department, with the concurrence of the health committee of the county commission, today issued a statement aimed at clearing up certain misunderstandings concerning the status of the mental health program in the county.

Dr. Wardlaw told The Citizen:
"It is not my intention now, nor has it ever been my intention, to terminate the mental health program in Monroe County.
We have temporarily discontinued the worker formerly assigned to this work but the work will be carried on, full-time, by our Chief Nurse, Mrs. Jeanette Sawyer, until a suitably qualified person can be found to take up the work.
"I will assist in every way and will meet with any organization for a discussion of the situation when my duties and my physical capabilities will permit."

Various organizations throughout the county became disturbed when reports that the mental health program in the county was being terminated.
Actually, according to Dr. Wardlaw, the intention in relieving the mental health worker was to place the program upon the basis on which it was originally instituted.

When the announcement of the change in the program was made, Dr. Wardlaw said:
"When it started, it was intended to be a program to train public health nurses, teachers, ministers and social workers to recognize early signs of mental illness and maladjustment and to give them some skills in handling these early cases."

The health department went on to point out that the program had reached a point where the public health nurses have become increasingly involved with individual cases committed to or returned from mental hospital, thus making the program ineffective as it was originally planned.

At the time of the original announcement Dr. Wardlaw stated:
It was, therefore, decided that the mental health worker's program would be terminated but that the mental health program would continue to be carried on by the public health nurses."

In his announcement, Dr. Wardlaw pointed out that the decision had been made after careful consideration and after concurrence of the director of the Bureau of Mental Health, the Monroe County Medical Society and the county commission.