On a personal note, on November 28, 2004 my family, the Burne Family of Clarks Summit, PA, was tragically and forever changed by the loss of our son and brother, Richard Matthew "Matt" Burne, age 37.  Matt had been an inpatient at THE MEADOWS, Wickenburg, AZ for only four days.  Notably and documented as suicidal, Matt was able to leave THE MEADOWS in the middle of the night, unobserved and through an unlocked and unmonitored door, and hang  himself with his own belt from a tree on an adjacent horse farm.  For more than three hours, the hospital staff was unaware Matt was missing from his room.  The loss of Matt's life was preventable.  Had the facility's doors simply been locked, secured, alarmed and/or monitored, or had he been observed or supervised per THE MEADOWS' own internal policy (Nursing Policy # 750) , Matt most likely would have made it through his suicidal crisis and been kept alive.  Similar to schools, day-care centers and assisted living/nursing homes, THE MEADOWS and all hospitals/treatment facilities have a primary and paramount obligation to keep their patients safe.  Standards of care and protocols need to be reviewed and assessed with a focus on patient safety.  If policies exist that are not in the best interest of patients, these facilities must be re-evaluated and licensed accordingly.  It is because of the preventable and tragic inpatient deaths of Matt Burne, Denise Dixon and 1600+ more each and every year in the U.S. alone, that this organization has been established.  These losses are senseless and avoidable.  We must ensure when people reach out for help they are (at least) kept safe.  We must ensure inpatient safety to those needing supervision and guidance - to those in crisis or at risk for self-harm and suicide.  We owe them, their families , ourselves and the general public that much.  We must start saving these unnecessarily lost lives.

Denise Burne Fein
President/Founder
Break the Silence
June 7, 2007

About Us

BREAK THE SILENCE (BTS) is a non-profit organization whose basis and foundation came from first-hand knowledge and experience that inpatient safety is not always provided to those in need of protection.  Although we all assume - and have the right to expect - that we and our loved ones will be kept safe while inpatients at hospitals and treatment centers, that is not always the case.  Often, understaffing, a break-down in care-givers' communication and accountability, or a facility's reliance upon an established and predictable daily routine leads to cracks in a system through which patients can and do fall.  "False senses of security"  often develop within the organizational structures of such organizations which leaves them open to tragic consequences:  the loss of human life. Furthermore, licensing and monitoring of many of these facilities, hospitals and programs by State Health Departments is often loose and infrequent.  Standards of Care are not assessed and revised to meet the current needs of the patient census.  Hospital/treatment facility advertising and marketing claims are not regulated or monitored by any federal or state agency,  nor are there any advertising and/or consumer protection standards established with which these facilities must comply.  Thus, there is a desperate need for a watch-dog organization like BREAK THE SILENCE.   That is why we are here.

Launched nationally on Tuesday, May 8, 2007, BREAK THE SILENCE issued a press release to over 80 media outlets:  print, broadcast and cable.  Three national ads/announcements ran on that day in VARIETY, The Hollywood Reporter and USA TODAY (page 3).  The response to the establishment of BTS has been overwhelming which, from a survivor's perspective, is very bitter-sweet.

The Burne Family in happier times.  Left to right:  Mom, our precious Matt, Dad, Me and Shelley.  

Click here                          to read about  BURNE v. THE MEADOWS and other lawsuits filed against THE MEADOWS by patients and/or their surviving families.