Oh, those folks in Reedley: City to help Sierra Kings District Hospital out of the hole, for a couple months anyway...

The question to the board of directors of Sierra Kings District is did they as a public entity, with an ability to tax, try to renegotiate it's reimbursement agreement with CMAC, California Medical Assistance Commission?
According to the Reedley Exponent, a wily local paper in Reedley, who found themselves covering a hospital with leaks everywhere, all the way into the streets, as bankruptcy was called for less than a month after a CEO was called to court.

Pam Ott, the former Kern Valley Healthcare District, CEO, with the diploma from "As seen on TV," left our valley in a hurry as investigators were lurking in the hospital asking serious questions about the care of the elderly residents in the skilled nursing facility back in 2007.

But Ott, administrator for both the nursing center and the entire hospital, left a mess with policies neither updated or new policies implemented, which caused possible casualties in certain cases. Her finance manager, is the same one which currently roosts at the Kern Valley hospital right now and in the hospital's apartments, laying around charging Pay per view events, CFO, Chet Beedle. (The pay per view events is totally made up. Sorry. I must have read that wrong.)

As Reedley struggled with both it's reputation then finances, a board worthy of our hometown reticence, interim CEO, Sandy Haskins, hired in from HFS consultants after Ott was relieved of her powers and the coffers were empty, has had his hands full trying to bankrupt the hospital while keeping it afloat for the future residents.

Though in some quotes, certain Sierra King board members initially protect Ott, that goes out the door quickly as allegations of not paying the employee retirement account came flying Ott's way, as the board did not want any part of that error too. The heat is on in Reedley and that hospital is being watched by both the newspaper, and now, city hall.

With only a few options left after much research, Haskins is borrowing 800K from the city of Reedley, so they can put up 1.6 million, the Exponent Editor wrote, to get a certain credit, peculiar to a type of hospital such as Reedley, and maybe such as KVHD, our little sour puss who wants a big 20 million dollar bond and they don't want to pay for it themselves. (Why those wise guys, I could...)

Disproportionate Share Hospital Payment Program, for guys like us who have a large number of Medical and Medicare and no one cares patients.

I thought the funniest part of another solid article from the Exponent on the subject of their financially failing hospital, was the idea that the CEO, Haskins had to go all alone in front of the City Council and ask for a loan with little or no pay off, and "preliminary" guarantees that the money cannot be grabbed in the bankruptcy or eaten by the state with it's obese appetite for cash.

Nobody from the board joined him. What a bunch of crackerjacks over there. Even a city council board member made a remark.

That is in my opinion another example of an elected board in charge of healthcare that doesn't care. We have that particular disease here, except in that they do care, but only about looking good for our small community who they seem to believe is judging them like a beauty contestant.

I'm afraid my research shows our community knows little about who is in charge of possibly their life one day if the other car crosses over the line in the canyon, or rocks begin to slide after a quake or your pacemaker quits.

Haskins isn't even Reedley, he's HFS, a management type, but the board was elected by the residents of Reedley and didn't show up to answer any questions about this loan or the reason for not making a show with CMAC so that they may potentially receive increased reimbursement from the Disproportionate hospital Payment Program.

But when Ott, our former Diva of da valley, and unfortunately for the city of Reedley, their CEO too who left with a shoe at her back, she hadn't even considered this option, along with her fellow CFO, who was let go when Big Frank and Chucky came to get their money...

What about KVHD? Umm, that's the question...tis nobler to get a bond...or try and get more reimbursement? Let's ask. I'm writing to them now.

I will go forth and get you that information...she said. I said. I exclaimed! Indeed.
More good stuff from the Exponent.
http://www.reedleyexponent.com/articles/2010/04/13/news/doc4bbcc5b788dca728308113.txt