Post And Courier Charleston

DHEC pulls surprise visit on Palmetto Behavioral Health

SUMMERVILLE -- The state and the town are cracking down on the adolescent treatment center troubled by escapes and violence. They want the facility to clean up its act or clear out of town.

The Post and Courier learned this week that S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control regulators pulled a surprise inspection on the Summerville residential facility of Palmetto Behavioral Health in May, within a week of a walk-through by two state legislators and two Town Council members that left all four alarmed by what they saw as lax safety and security at the center.

DHEC made another inspection earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the town attorney is reviewing the facility's compliance with business license, code and zoning requirements.

During the visit, the officials said they found safety and security lapses including younger, older and aggressive-behavior clients together without adequate supervision, lapses in camera monitoring, and issues with locks and fencing.

"I'm hoping with the pressure we can bring from the state, DHEC and local officials, they will be brought into compliance. They're going to make changes or they're going to be out of business," said S.C. Rep. Chris Murphy, R-Summerville, one of the legislators who made that walk-through.

"I think we all went away (from the walk-through) feeling the same way. They were saying all the right stuff we wanted to hear. I wanted to see some follow-through. There didn't seem to be any sense of urgency," said Town Councilman Walter Bailey, who called this week for the town attorney's review.

The problems

The center treats male and female, younger and older adolescents for sexual aggression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress. It operates on Midland Parkway near Summerville Medical Center, nursing homes and residential neighborhoods. Its parent company, Universal Health Services, runs some 200 such facilities across the country, with $5.6 billion in reported net revenues in 2010.

UHS has a history of similar problems and reported safety violations.

"They do a private business," Murphy said about his impression of the Summerville center. "They're motivated by profit. The safety of the employees and the safety of the public was taking a back seat."

During the May inspection at the facility, licensed for 60 beds, state inspectors found 64 beds including eight beds set up in a hallway, according to DHEC violation reports. They also found two patients older than 18 being treated "and not in the legal custody of an agency of the state of South Carolina," according to the reports.

Roast pork 'cue for saucy Fourth | The Post and Courier ...

For a July Fourth barbecue spread, it seems crazy to me to be cooking outdoors in the Lowcountry heat for hours.

Now, I'm not talking about a two six-pack team -- the ones who sit up all night with a pig on the fire and a beer in hand. That's not hard.

But to do long barbecuing outside in the afternoon? Insanely hot.

Rather than be a party pooper, I have a way to get that barbecue "fix" and still beat the heat. I'm an oven cooker on the 4th -- actually the 3rd of July.

That means slow-roasting a pork shoulder (also called Boston butt) in the oven, which makes delicious barbecue.

Because my family is small, I want a roast big enough to make a splash yet small enough that we won't get tired of barbecue in the freezer.

I put the pork on as early as possible or even the night before. It cooks at 275 degrees for six to eight hours until it registers at least 160 degrees on the thermometer and is falling-apart tender.

Then, when the meat is cool enough to handle, I take the meat off the bone. Note I don't say "pull" off the bone -- more on that later.

I keep the rest of my meal simple: corn on the cob, coleslaw, white bread for the 'cue, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, and watermelon for dessert. Maybe a peach cobbler, but just maybe. What more does anyone need?

Well, topping the day off with fireworks, of course.

Back to "pulled pork," the current terminology for barbecued pork. Where did all this "pulling" originate? It used to be called just "chopped barbecue," which meant pieces versus slices.

I never heard of anyone pulling pork until the 1980s. Chef Frank Lee of Slightly North of Broad restaurant says someone called his pork "pulled" in the late '70s, but that was the first he heard it either.

I think pulling is akin to what has always been done: The people who cooked the pig -- or the shoulders -- all night threw the meat on a table. By then, many of the parts had naturally separated from the meat. They then proceeded to hack up the meat. No niceties here.

When all was hacked, everyone at the table pitched in and pulled the pieces away from the bones, tearing the meat apart with their fingers.

It's much the same way our mothers and grandmothers boiled a chicken for chicken salad, cooked it and then took it off the bone, shredding it as they went, but not chopping it ultra-fine like a bad cafeteria did. No roughing up the meat, so to speak.

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