Gov. Sonny Perdue's public silence about the crisis in the state's mental health hospitals finally seems to be breaking.

"We know that patients were not getting adequate treatment," Perdue told a crowd of mental health advocates in front of the Capitol steps last week. But words are no substitute for leadership.

For more than a year, this newspaper has documented systemic problems in the state's seven mental hospitals. At least 115 patients died under suspicious circumstances from 2002 to 2006, the newspaper has reported, with more than 200 confirmed cases of abuse in the same period.

Those revelations, initially published a year ago, brought an incredibly lame response from the Department of Human Resources, the agency responsible for care at the hospitals. Despite the suspicious deaths, DHR said, the hospitals were better run than when Perdue took office, and the facilities were improving.

In 2007 —- even as the U.S. Justice Department began investigating potential violations of patient civil rights —- as many as 21 more questionable deaths occurred.

Throughout this period, the governor has been silent. As is his managerial style, Perdue prefers to work behind the scenes with agency heads and legislative leaders, rarely taking a lead role on issues even when the General Assembly is in session.

When the 2007 Legislature convened yet another commission to study the mental health system, Perdue petulantly insisted that officials from DHR —- the very agency that had demonstrably failed in running the hospitals —- be on the commission.

This year he has recommended an additional $36.2 million for the hospitals, but more than half of that amount is for expenses the facilities have already incurred or planned. The increased 2009 funding is still less than 5 percent of the hospital system's total budget —- probably not enough to make much headway toward better staffing and relief of overcrowded hospital wards.

Perdue has also proposed yet another commission, this one to examine whether to reorganize the Department of Human Resources. Meanwhile, there is still no money in Perdue's budget to fund a mental health ombudsman, needed to investigate complaints of abuse or neglect and help patients and families find the services they need. The Legislature authorized the office eight years ago but has not funded it.

"We are not as pleased as we'd like to be in the area of mental health," Perdue said at a news conference this month, understating the life-and-death gravity of the issue.

The state does need better managerial expertise in delivering human services, and perhaps a better governmental structure as well. But what it really needs is a governor who uses his pulpit and power to force the bureaucracy to respond to critical needs.

Georgians in the state's mental hospitals —- and their families —- can't wait any longer.

-- Mike King, for the editorial board