a few things regarding the KVHD monthly meeting for February 2010

(Look again: this post from the board meeting in Feb. 2010 the financial problems starting to burst forth even as the CEO and CFO begin to speak of issues that had already been asked, but now suddenly, with no payment to Cal mtg for the old debt: they begin to warm up to the GOB idea, a bailout.)


There's really not been much to report from the hospital that I can't make a joke about, so I thought I would keep my mouth shut for a while and see what happens.

The funny thing right now, is that nothing is funny. The situation is dire, and if you are coming to this conclusion "now," you're late and there's nothing to do but surrender your money to an uncertain future of healthcare.

But if this hospital falls so does the valley. Yeah, I'm afraid so. There won't be time to get anything of any worth going up here, and things will spin into a property value toilet, where all you can do is flush it down.

The biggest employer, with the second worst reputation, I won't say who is first, from a friendly, community, list.

Our community has yet to be able to move to the beat of a drum, we're out of step up here, and fishing derbies are fun, when there's water, and with little in the way of technology here, the forest service backing us off a the dry bed lake, another PUC meeting with Cal Water about the increases they need and we can't afford anyway you look at it, and a college which is waning, classes are shrinking, it's going to take leadership to keep this area going.

First and foremost, people are going to have to care about the many issues gripping the valley, one being the hospital which is where I have sat for years now.

The hospital is going nowhere without money.

The CFO, Chet Beedle, is willing to say it's worth it to send a bill out for a service done three years ago, for $8.10, which in the end will cost the hospital to get this money. The labor and materials almost does it in on the first round.

They are now admitting they had problems with billing. And the billing complaint right now is the one against the uninsured who are being recalcitrant and not filling out their charity forms to see if they can qualify for aid.

(Beedle recently in July 2010, said he didn't bill people because he was trying to help the community. As you can see the community was the villain only six months ago..)

I think they may have to simply work on the approach. As I said before, nobody likes to take aid, escpecially men. Why not have the hospital take a look at who is not filling out these forms? I bet they find it is men predominantly.

And then last week we want dialysis and mammography?

I couldn't help but be visibly shaken when I heard the CCO, Cheif Clinical Officer, Cynthia Burciagia, say they really wanted to be able to supply dialysis, which is sometimes a daily clearing of the kidneys for certain people, and it is not available here.

It's very tough to endure these therapies constantly and then to have to travel. A patient asked teh board a month ago if they could get that equipment here in the valley.

Unfortunately, there are so few people here that the idea was put aside a few years ago, as Dr. Robert Gross, DO, attempted to contact doctors and find a way to do this. But the expense and lack of volume made it difficult.

It's possible this could be done, in a way if a private doctor were to start a business here, and offering it that way, said, current, CEO, Tim McGlew.

But mammography?

Of course we need mammography and we had it, paid for it, but never got it up and running. Same story different year.
I had several people ask me why they didn't have mammography here and I said they did. However, that wasn't quite true. You can have equipment but you need people to run it and read it.

When I heard this I realized we are chasing our tails.

Our numbers are all over the place, we have cash on hand again, where we had some, didn't have any, got a credit card, kept the pharmacy open, except for the lack of pharmacists, it's still going.

And then came the call for money. We need money. I couldn't help but feel indigestion coming on as we've watched this title wave standing right at shore for the last five years or more.

No, Cal Mtg. we can't pay you in August the money you are expecting...sorry.

We've seen a lot of good people leave this valley, and I'm wondering who will be the people who care enough to see this place through some very difficult problems...