Prayers to families whose loved ones died in the SNF at KVHD

Well, it's a shocking day in the Kern River Valley, as residents finally learn that early reports regarding the problems with the Skilled Nursing Facility, were unfortunately true.

"Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the arrests
of anurse, physician, and a pharmacist of a nursing home for
"forciblyadministering" psychotropic medications for their own convenience,
rather thanfor their patients' therapeutic interests, actions that are alleged
to haveresulted in the deaths of three residents. "These people maliciously
violatedthe trust of their patients, by holding them down and forcibly
administeringpsychotropic medications if they dared to question their care,"
Attorney GeneralBrown said. "This is appalling behavior, which amounts to
assault with a deadlyweapon." Earlier today, California Department of Justice
special agents arrestedthree individuals: . Gwen Hughes, the former Director of
Nursing at the skillednursing facility of the Kern Valley Healthcare District in
Lake Isabella, KernCounty on charges of elder abuse and assault with a deadly
weapon. . DebbiHayes, the former pharmacist at the Valley Healthcare District,
on charges ofelder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. . Dr. Hoshang Pormir,
a staffphysician at Kern Valley Healthcare District, who was serving as the
medicaldirector of the skilled nursing facility, on charges of elder
abuse.

I would like to say directly to the families, that I'm sorry for your loss, as well as those whose family members were treated with abuse.
(I'll reserve the names for now)

Our prayers go out to you and the suffering you have endured while watching certain people at the hospital deny any wrongdoing or serious problems, or just completely abandon ship.

Just the thought of our aged and frail patients being physically overwhelmed and drugged, should make us all more vigilant about our hospital.

This is a public healthcare district, and it is now time for the public to come forward and help make things better.We need to speak to our political representatives who were forewarned by me in many emails, that there was a serious problem in the SNF and with the communication by three certain board members who zigged when they should have zagged. (The sticky three, see post below)

I would like to know what happened to the oversight from our public servants? Overseeing a birthday party is not a tough job. Investigating allegations of much wrongdoing would have been time better spent.

Personally, I would be embarrassed had I shown up at this party, when the administration knew it was facing a major crisis soon. (Note, I wasn't there for that reason)

With the mountainous debt brought on by a low cost state loan gone bad, the hospital scrimps to pay off the current 15 million dollar debt. Even now there is uncertainty that this year's payment can be made in a timely manner or in whole.

Just like it was around the nation, a mongrel office, part government, part money makers, named Cal Mortgage, backed a bad loan to this healthcare district. Starting at 13 million in 1989, and then when problems with the construction project occurred, they threw another almost 9 million at us.

Was this a good lending practice? (KVHD board Treasurer, Brad Armstrong was there and needs to answer to some of these questions. He's been on the board for 20 years.)

Now Cal Mortgage has us in a stranglehold, where we cannot even bankrupt. No, this government backed insurer can come in and take over management or take all the assets of the district and leave a crater behind.


Maybe if the district had that money it has to channel to Cal Mortgage, to spend on qualified staff, this whole problem with the SNF would never have occurred and nobody would have died.

And maybe Cal Mortgage should shoulder a lot of the responsibility for what happened.

We already have a dangerous river, we don't want this hospital known as the "Killer Kern" healthcare district.

Board meeting the first Wednesday of March at 5:30 in the cafeteria. Be there, ask questions, and get informed.I will be posting many interesting things in the next few days that may help inspire some questions that the board and CEO need to answer.