As you can imagine in your nightmares, I went and checked on all the media coverage regarding the elder abuse charges against former CEO of the Kern Valley Healthcare District, Pamela Ott, this week.
Some of it, was laughable, others used straight news releases from the Department of Justice, some used the news releases as foundation for their articles, then other crashed so much information on top of you it was hard to understand.
Of all the outlets covering, I say The Bakersfield Californian did the best job. Good facts, simplicity of coverage, best quote award and it was well written.
Ott's attorney, Jim Faulkner, said she was completely innocent. Boy are we going to have fun with that.
I know I popped the Californian in the jaw earlier this year, and explained to them that we are not just "carnage canyon" to feed breaking news, we have a "history" up here, that the surrounding beauty does not belie.
So, I emailed all of the media outlets with corrections, (I'm sure they just loved that) and let it go at that.
Basic facts:
Here are some of the basic facts:
This happened at the Kern Valley Healthcare District in Mt. Mesa California. KVHD is a public healthcare district.
They have a hospital and a skilled nursing center in the same building.
Pam Ott has phony credentials as to her administration degrees. Google, Kennedy Western University.
The state investigation runs from Aug. 1, 2006 until Jan. 25, 2007.
Ott resigned in May 2007, when the the civil lawsuits began to appear.
Ott worked with a board of directors, who had a quorum, three of the five always voted the way Ott wanted them too. Open Brown act violations occurred.
It's no doubt the board knew what was going on as well.
Feb. 20 of this year, the state charged, Dr. Hoshang Pormir, the medical director for the SNF, Debbi Hayes, the Pharmacist, and Gwen Hughes, the director of nursing who began working at the hospital after Ott and her CNO, were tagged by CMS/DHS in 2006 for using physical restraints and short staffing.
Aug. 14, Debbi Hayes, the pharmacist plead no contest to a conspiracy charge, got a one year suspended sentence, three years of probation, and community service so she can become a witness in the case.
On Sept. 8, it was supposed to be the pre preliminary hearing for the doctor and director of nursing, but Ott got the spotlight as they charged her that day, and the case was continued to Nov.3 and 4.
Persistance and Tenacity, requires a new chapter, a new beginning....
I was surprised the Reedley paper did not have a story regarding this. Maybe they are in denial about their CEO.
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