RALEIGH – Leaders of an oversight committee responsible for statewide mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services met Thursday for their monthly review of hospitals and discussed the death of bipolar patient Steven Sabock, who died in Goldsboro’s Cherry Hospital in April.

Senator Martin Nesbitt, who co-chaired the committee, said the Sabock’s death was not the failure of the system as a whole, but an example of inadequate management and failing employees.

“People in these institutions must care more deeply about the people than obviously occurred in that situation,” Nesbitt said. “It was not a failure of reform. We had hospitals in the old system, the new system and otherwise. It’s a failure of management of existing facilities.”

However, Mary Short, said the committee might be meeting its standards by law, but it’s failing to meet the needs of the people of North Carolina.

“Even with this video tape, this is how they treat people,” she said.

Nesbitt said that his first priority is always with the patients and that the lives at risk far outweigh the jobs in limbo. He plans to take the current issues plaguing the mental health system straight to Governor-Elect Beverly Perdue.

“My message to the governor, my message to the division is that you have got to clean this stuff up,” Nesbitt said. “Get rid of the bad people. Put in proper managers in place so it doesn’t happen again.”

Nesbitt added that the state should be open to increasing funding so state mental facilities can pay more and attract higher quality employees.