It's what they didn't say at the Kern Valley Healthcare Board of Directors meeting...Dec. 2009 updated

Update:Why would I, a simple minded reporter type, know the troubles to come before the Kern valley healthcare district financial officer...I eerily predict the future, which is now...Aug. 2010

Can anyone spare a dime?

I was in our local market just before the holiday weekend, and some friends of mine were having trouble getting together all the money they needed to buy dog food and cat food, and something for them too.

Standing across in another line, I asked if they needed some extra cash. A tiny, elderly woman was next to me, couldn't have been a day under 100, and she said, " do they need some money, I have a little left over from this month."

What an shining example of generosity and kindness. Someone with little willing to share it without being asked.

This should be our example of how we all behave towards each other during these difficult economic times.

And the Kern Valley Healthcare District could use a lesson from this woman as the district and hospital itself were funded and built, under the Hill Burton Act, to serve our rural community.

Though I showed up late for the meeting last night, as I'm still grieving the death of our best dog, it was apparent that things are urgent and dire, as the two most important items were pulled from the agenda: The Mt. Mesa Clinical Pharmacy report and discussion regarding a potential general obligation bond.

Where do we stand with the pharmacy?

Well, we didn't find out last night what our latest figures tell us about the future of the retail pharmacy.

It's likely we will not see much action until the beginning of next year as December is a full month of holidays and vacations.

With the pharmacy and it's staff up in the air for at least another month, I suggest that we now bring back the business before it's too late.

No matter what the hospital decides to do, it's happening slowly, and not so surely, and that is where the community needs to step in: step in the doors of the pharmacy and get their prescriptions.

I'd like to thank Mt. Mesa Clinical Pharmacy for getting my medication ten minutes before closing, the day before Thanksgiving. What a relief not having to drive around the lake or out of town, which happened just recently and will happen again.

Though the staff was busy, they managed to keep filling prescriptions up until closing time, even with the computers down creating the daily report.

A credit card to save the pharmacy

American Express to the rescue, as the district with no credit, managed to get an American Express card to help pay for such things as: pharmaceuticals and supplies.

But only to the the tune of 92K, which won't go very far. Now the card will remit back a 1% pat on the back fee for paying the card within 30 days; then there's an interest charge after that which starts at 2.99, (nice) but, boo hoo, if you don't pay after 90 days as the card will self destruct in Chet Beedle's pocket.

So, the board voted unanimously to get a credit card, it was something they all could agree upon.
Why did they agree?

If your business had less than a day of cash on hand, you would look at that credit card offer in a different way wouldn't you? And that's why the board members, looking embarrassed, voted unanimously to get an American Express card.

General obligation bond beats bankruptcy

If we could somehow manage to convince this community that this hospital and it's services are worth the extra property taxes necessary to keep the district afloat during these turbulent times it still would be driven by the same people and ineffective systems that caused the downfall in the first place.
(I said difficult times because the previous hospital administration decided to eat up all the reserves and even feed it to their friend, who we will now call, "Planes, trains, automobiles and free lunches." Before that they basically handed over millions to a company who "attempted" to rectify the situation in the nursing center.)

In the meantime, the idea that a general obligation bond would be a solution is pretty far fetched, as well as being more than a year plus off before any of that money, were it a reachable goal, was paid to the district.

Currently, the financial situation is such that we need immediate action. We cannot wait on a tentative general obligation bond, and the amount we would need could reach 50 million dollars. This community does not have the real estate base to handle that sum.
(New information July 28, 2010, there is a second GOB or property tax bond necessary. Video upcoming)

Paying off the old debt which built half a nursing center, a nice OR, a cafeteria, would cost almost 40 million dollars. How could we put that on the community's shoulder's Brad Armstrong, board member, who was there twenty years ago when he and his board buried the hospital in debt and inept leadership in regards to the construction?

Mr. Armstrong voted last night for a credit card. (Boy it's rough out there, eh, Brad? It used to be you could get millions and throw it into the wind without a squeek from the community. New day, new game, old timer.)

We need help

The truth is this district is on the brink of bankruptcy maybe even more so now than ten years ago when we faced a financial crisis, or more like tidal wave.

Most of us don't want to have to go that route as it does not always save the day and is risky.

But if it's the only way to save the district, then it must be done.

It seems Mr. Beedle, our Cheif Financial Officer, back in February was not agreeable to speaking with the office of Cal Mtg., the state office which insures our revenue bonds from 1986 and 1989, which put 22 million in the KVHD coffers, and who knows how much more into the supporting cast from the Office of Statewide Healthcare Planning and Development.

(The Cal Mtg. Proposal: see post)
The idea came about as Mr. Beedle told us in Feb. 2009 that the bond payments to Cal Mtg. were tentative at best and we would have to use money from the bond reserve to pay them.

And if you don't think Cal Mtg. has not already heard about these problems, then you don't know what kind of creditor we are dealing with.

Pamela Ott, as we will recall, had some interesting credentials, yet somehow made it to the top as CEO. She is now charged in the KVHD elder abuse case, and the amount of money this has cost the district can be attributed to Ott's leadership and her followers, Bob Jamison, Brad Armstrong, and Barbara Casas (former board member, part of "the sticky three.")

Between Cal Mtg. and Pamela Ott, and the super job done by the Department of Health Services, we can thank them all for the position we are in right now.

But let's not stop the thank you's there, we have a financial officer who has continually kept the truth, the figures we need to see, out of sight. Explanations are lengthy and not meant to be understood.

And, Mr. Beedle, broke up a potential negotiation with Cal Mtg. earlier in the year, with the excuse we were making our state debt insurer's angry. If they don't want bankruptcy, then why not try to negotiate to defer payments until the situation can be rectified with a new financial leader?

Let's start with a reorganization plan within the hospital itself, immediately, and bring on new blood and new calculators to get this thing started before Cal Mtg. brings in Casey again, or something like that.

To avoid bankruptcy, there is no other way, than to replace the financial leadership currently at the hospital. If that is not done pronto, then I predict the spector of Cal Mtg. will be upon us early next year.

My question is: why has this not been done already? Why does it take so long to catch the problem and then have to utilize a last ditch solution?

Finally, the woman at the grocery story who was willing to help a family and their pets with a few bucks, should be a model of what the leadership at KVHD should be doing: showing compassion.

Employees who have worked the district for ten or more years have seen their benefits dissappear, their retirement taken away, their tenure become meaningless: but the administrators have given up NOTHING.

I'm going to find that woman and send her your way, Bob Jamison, Chet Beedle, Brad Armstrong, amongst others, and you can tell her she's wrong to try and help out others in need.

Our hospital is need, can we get some help?

What will we do now?
(I'll leave it at that until the next post)