And the Password is: "Preliminary" (The Great KVHD bailout)

Well, the cat's out of the bag, and Kern Valley Healthcare Administrative buddies, duo,CEO, Tim McGlew and CFO, Chet Beedle, took the helm at this month's board meeting to tell us all about the general obligation bond.

It was mostly preliminary, until the end

As I passed down the hallowed hall of KVHD to the final destination: the cafeteria and the April board meeting. Since I'm late, I can hear the meeting has gotten to the chair of the CEO Tim McGlew who is explaining the need for a general obligation bond to keep the hospital up and running. And to add on a few accoutrement's with the leftover cash.


As I passed the American memorabilia hanging on the walls, I kept thinking what a putz the Attorney General Jerry Brown is for letting these people get away with "murder" over here. The system, the bill of rights, hell even title 22, is officially ignored around here.



The audience consisted of familiar faces, quite a few empty chairs, and a new kid sitting in the front row. After the meeting I told him I hadn't seen him around here before.
He said he was a recently retired fireman looking for something to do. Well, here's a fire over at the hospital, that could give him something to do.
I asked him if he knew what KVHD stood for as I do during calls to the community as part of the KRV Watchdog survey. He answered, "Kern Valley High School District," then realized by changing one word, "health" he questioned. I laughed.
I then asked do you know what a GOB or General obligation bond is or means? He said, " I have a lot to learn don't I?" Actually, I'm the one learning a lot about how people perceive this healthcare district and healthcare in general.
The new kid already had a friend before I left, as old timer, 20 year board member, Brad Armstrong, took the fireman by the arm and whisked him away. (They must have been friends for a long time, because they seem to know just as much about the healthcare district as the other. Maybe he will be running for the board soon, take over for his friend.)



Members of the audience, arms crossed, looked like they were waiting for something exciting to be uttered, like, "put your hands up this is a robbery" or "we have fired all the bone heads who got us into this mess where we have to tap dance for money."



The basic gist of McGlew's argument for having the community bail out the hospital was that the hospital needs money, and we are prepared to look at the different modes of taking your money away from you and putting it into the hospital which has always been a good investment or investor or divestor...


As I've explained over and over, we have a large debt but we also have not taken care of the money over the years, giving away millions to companies and not batting an eye. The government has received benefits for its healthcare programs like Department of Health Services which is a joke when it comes to oversight. (Wouldn't you agree Mr. Etra and Mr. Ginsburg?) Also, being sued and avoiding normal collection practices, may have played role in the downfall.


It was if the CEO knows all of this and the board, well, they are drinking the anesthesia or something because they in one year of leadership have done nothing to change anything. Well, I would say updating records from 1990, would be something, that's still on-going though.


Basically, Tim McGlew, repeated that this was a preliminary look at options to clean up the blood trail at the district. Beedle, financial manager, and best side stepper of them all, told us we were fine, that wasn't an artery we hit, and there was no spray: and then he told us the truth so we could be too late with any options.

Beedle needs to be fired for keeping this information from the board and the public. And since Mr. Brown, our Attorney General, is now setting an example by rousting community foundations at certain colleges who say paid, Sarah Palin, 100K to speak, and whose monies are not all accounted for? And, if it's not even more hypocrisy, Jerry Brown, is after this particular college foundation for not turning over "public records."

Public records? You mean you do it for them and not for us? Again?

How many KVHD records do I have? Enough, I guess, because I can't seem to get even a piece of hate mail from these people, they are as solid as a rock over there at administration. (I could not have thought of a better fictional name for the secretary at KVHD: Hidey, or really spelled Heidi, but still has that humorous connotation.)

Where are my requests Jerry Brown? If you're going after college foundations, why can't you come here and help ME get some records? It's just not fair. How can I even believe you are real and want to go back to being Governor and yet you leave us, the blogging and the justiceless, to go take a leap. Thanks a lot.

You know Mr. Brown, I'm sorry but this is hypocrisy. I thought this was a straight across the board game? It's just a game of liars. If I have learned one thing, is that people, lie constantly and will always lie to protect themselves. Liars don't like me. Who else would put up such a blog about their own healthcare here in the valley of the doomed? A stupid truth teller.

If I have a pet peeve and it is liars. And I'm feeling peeved, trust me.

Now, we've got a CEO, who is Mcglued to his CFO, in that he allowed him to talk crappolla for an inordinate amount of time during the meeting, then just cut him off with, "okay." I'm actually going to type his whole explanation in so that it stays with us a little longer than it did at the meeting.

But prior to Beedle's mania, we heard from Tim.

Let's put this in perspective for a minute: please do











They said go forth and get info the board said to me, or a barking dog down in Bakersfield late one night. He didn't say the last part, but did say, "go forth," which I thought was worth noting. So, we're on a mission to save the castle, The Lord of the Rings, oh this is so much fun.


But wait, it's just started.


Regarding the info to the board, McGlew said: "So, that process is underway, but it's still very preliminary."

And we're going to build an "imaging center" (whatever the heck that is, but does sound alluring) and a new emergency room.

"So, that process is underway, it's very preliminary." McGlew informed us.

Gosh, I'm ready to start, I want to save the castle and build a moat to keep HIPAA violators out. But wait...

"At this point the board, there's been no decisions made, it's still very preliminary." Tim made clear to all.

No decisions, but what are we doing then?

"So, this is obviously a strategic planning we're doing here." Tim shared with those who didn't know what they were doing.

I thought we were strategic planning at the special board meeting surprisingly called a week before the regular board meeting. Can't we at least plan on building something?

"We obviously need to work with some architects to even get some preliminary numbers." McGlew finalized the preliminary discussion.












After Chet hits the floor with some great stuff, Tim finally tells us what the skinny is on the situation. Is it preliminary? You tell me.


"So, our plan would also like to have that on our November ballot...if we were able to do that, so clearly there's a significant amount of work that has to be done, get the board educated (yeah, make them read healthcare for dummies) and up to speed on about what needs to be happen and I'll have meetings with the community, with anybody and everybody (I bet not the former CCO, Cynthia Burciaga, I think he was stretching it there), so they get to understand why we're doing this and why we need to do this and make sure their questions are answered."


Well, that was far more definitive. Here we go folks, it's up and it's on. Bond, Tim's bond. We saw Pam's bond, and even Brad's bonds, but we've never seen Tim's bond. Could be different. Though it sure seems somehow the same: Running late in the election year, Caldwell-Flores-Winters, we just need Aspen and Pam and we're off...But what many may not have heard was that our insurer, a state agency called Cal Mtg., is suddenly a threat to our longevity. They never were before, only I said that, and a few others who are much maligned.

Now the specter of this agency located away from human contact, protected by big brother, OSHPD, Office of Statewide Healthcare Planning and Development, is being used to bag a bond?

It was a funny blog to write and would be funny if it were true that Cal Mtg. is now a concern. We don't pay them....brrrrrrr....(teeth chattering) we will lose the farm. "Daddy where's the tractor?"

Not true though. We have the money and within the next series of paragraphs spoken by Chet Beedle at the meeting, he even says that. But what a delight it would be if the community would just come in and pay off the debt so Chet has more change to jangle in his pocket.

This is a transcript, but unfortunately Chet is talking so quickly he is difficult to hear. There are two places where I do not know what the man said or meant to say-it was spray-it was gibberish, but the rest is taken from the video of the meeting. I've edited out the uhs and ands and a few repetitive things for my own comfort, thank you.

Read it and understand, that I have a difficult time explaining all of this to you the community who has no background or even time to absorb the magnitude of a government run business. But listen and you will hear the cacophony of what is being said by Chet...signifying nothing.

Chet Beedle, Center, Brad Armstrong, left, and new CCO, Mark Gordon, uncomfortable.

[Beedle transcript April 6, 2010 also including my snide comment section]

I'm going to put something in perspective for a minute (that long?), district hospitals then when they first went into business actually most of them look at some kind of a bond, a lot of them had Hill Burton funds, that was a government program back in the 70,s and 80's, many of them funded bonds for the future. Back in those days you got to keep work services in your facility blah blah blah, you were able to see more patients, do more things, aaa specialists were paid differently.

So most of the facilities who started bonds did revenue bonds. What that means is there is these feasability studies that were created there were going to pay for themselves. The revenue generated squeek squeek squeek. In the 1991 bond, and it was let and it was for 13 million dollars and I believe what I've seen the hospital could have supported, should have supported, probably could support NOW at the 22 million dollar bond.

The problem is that during the process of this bond it got increased because of a lot of different reasons, overruns on costs, change orders, the Northridge Earthquake, to a 20 million dollar bond.

(Then there was this other bond first feased in 1986 and was 13 million until 1989 when there was both the Loma Prieta Earthquake and there also came to be a change in the building code as there always is and is nothing surprising unless you've never been in construction before and might find that it's all about timing. You never pay a contractor more than is allowed per portion of the job. But that was another excuse they used. "Bad contractors." Will we be hearing these same excuses ten years from now when our property taxes are there just to keep the hospital going. This will not be the first bond for the future, but let's not do it in a hurry or because we have to. Let's take the time to really find out where this community is going. Heck we still haven't even had our justice for the nursing center, Nazi administrators allowed to happen. And kept it quiet because of the election and the bond that we didn't bond with, Measure M. I think it was like the movie "Fargo" and if you haven't seen it, now you must.)

I've not seen a feasability study that supports a bond for 20 million dollars, consequently there is no way escpecially with the situation (what situation we were all good Chet we didn't need to get that proposal to Cal Mtg. I suggested last year. But what do I know? No feasability study for the second round of millions of dollars from Cal Mtg.? Did they do something wrong at Cal Mtg. which we could catch them on maybe? Could we have someone investigate that they, insured a bad debt. Just like the banks did all around the world.) at the hospital is in that it can pay for the principle component of the bond, which is all but 700K a year, 700k a year of million and a half is necessary for interest. The hospital can pretty much support that, and there's some cost reimbursement that comes back, from Medicaire for that. The principle portion would out of profitability from revenue generation which just is not there. Now what the hospitals have done over the years is push this, push that, instead of keeping expenses lower in some places and its 30 decent years of revenue to be able to make the principle and these payments and one point, use all of its reserves. Because they put in 1.5 million in reserves then build it back at one point to about 700k and we can take that back down to 500K, there's a bond reserve of about 500K out there. (out where? I don't see anything.)

Basically what happened is we made a change even if it was for the principle, let's say you paid off this 13 million and a half there's about 13 and a half million left on the bond to pay off of the 20 million, you would be at least that close to a million dollars, 900K dollars in principle, that you're now paying every year on bottom line, so even, even without, even with the bad debts we would be short of profitability, because we would for a year had that.

If you get rid of the bond all together you would also not have the long term interest, but you would also not have the medicare matching component which is about 50% of that interest.

End of transcript...Phew!!!

Enough of that it goes on and on, if you want it and you're extremely bored, I'll send it to you. You get the idea. You've heard both McGlew and McBeedle on the matter in quotes, now you have your vote.

Board member, Kathryn Knight, left, Victoria Alwin, Center, and Dr. Robert Gross DO, on the right, thinking maybe about what their position will be when the decision is made, the preliminary figures come in. I hope there will be more action and questions from these community elected officials, as there is trouble in river city!

And an immediate investigation into how Cal Mtg. insured a 9 million dollar round of bonds in 1989 without a feasibility study is insane. Because Chet is correct when he says these bonds would support themselves with the new business created with the monies. But like everything else, it doesn't always work out that way.

People like money, and piles of money are very loving and likable. And takable too.

That's why I support a bond, but I do not trust the people in charge. So, until that changes, I can only hope we continue to support the 22 million we said we would.

Oh, Chet left out the refinance we did during the BBB year, because of the bonds coming up: but we paid some more money there too. And added additional time and interest. So, really how much was paid in the real long run?

Though the hospital seems to belittle the fact that more than half of almost a million comes back to the hospital, and purposely is now inflating the figures. It used to be we deflated the figure, now a new day and a new strategy. On guard. So, really, we can service our own debt. Wouldn't it be nice if we took responsibility?

Now, if we get a finance team here or even a sharp consultant, I'd say, go for the bond, let's get the future started. But you can't start the future with the past still employed at the hospital. Think about it...we can talk.

It turns out we have been paying for these bonds for 25 years now, and if we get a new bond, a general obligation bond, to pay it again, that would be a total of 55 years supporting these bonds by both the community and the hospital. (Chet likes to use the word supporting, as if a child of bonds.)

Actually, I support raising taxes to meet the current demands of the hospital, which is what the community must do. And then if we are astute in our new found monies, we move on to getting the GOB in 2012. At that point we have a new finance administrator and board members are trained to understand how the financial records work.

Who cares if they take a class in ethics: that didn't change anything. We need classes for the board members to understand completely, so that persons who control the money, and handle it, are watched and no sleight of hand will be able to be used. Let's start that right now...I'll go tell them. See ya. Thank you.

Coming soon, the bi-polar protester. How to protest, by Laura Hart