The Kern Valley Healthcare District Special meeting held yesterday, Wednesday July 28, scheduled to have the board vote whether or not to put a property tax increase, also known as a general obligation bond, on the November ballot, to pay for the hospital's debt situation was held off until the regular board meeting.
Board members voted to hold off the final vote until next week until they get results from another phone survey being conducted as to the willingness of the community to bail out the hospital financially.
The meeting is scheduled for August 4th, at 5:30 pm in the hospital cafeteria.
Attending the meeting were representatives from Caldwell Flores and Winters who will be again doing another survey of the community by phone. Please contact me at Hartofthekrv@msn.com if you recieve any calls.
Persistance and Tenacity, requires a new chapter, a new beginning....
Well my house was one called for the Health Care District survey. I listened while my significant other answered the questions; some of which were confusing and seemed to be designed to get a certain response. But I think the thing that really bugged me was how they seemed to be fishing for the best story to give the voters as to why they needed the money.
ReplyDeleteWould it be we need earthquake refitting, or a bigger ER, or maybe a real radiology department? How about modern equipment? Those things would all be nice, that's true, however.. This hospital can't pay the bills now. So how are we going to go into debt more. Maybe if the board would open the books of the past and current finances and try a little honesty. O.M.G. HONESTY? What's that? Until this board can start being honest with the community, admit their mistakes that have put us here and define a plan to not repeat those mistakes, no amount of bull*%*# is going to get your bond passed.
If this hospital closes it will be the board and their inability to rise above personal to professional.
There a couple of board members that need to step down and get a few that will actually have the best interests of the hospital. Some of them have a "I am the boss" kind of attitude. Guess what - you're not the boss, you work for us!
ReplyDeleteHow about asking Mr. Beedle and Mr. McGlew opening their pockets and helping the hospital? Why should they get raises when the rest of us are unemployed? Will they get taxed if the GOB is passed? Nope, they don't live here.
ReplyDeleteHey - where is the former nurse director, Cynthia Burciaga? Has she been run out of town by the hospital administration? I was there when she announced her sudden resignation? Was she fired or urged to resign? Or, did she see what was happening at the hospital and turned tail?
ReplyDeleteHey Cynthia, we miss you!
I too was called for the phone survey. The questions are definitely loaded. They ask general questions, like "Is it good for hospitals to be current with the latest equipment and treatments." Then they ask for a response to the question without clarifying whether the question is specific to KVHD or just a general question. The specificity is very important. In general, it is good for a hospital to have the latest technology. But in the specific case of KVHD, the answer is no. Incompetent buffoons are still incompetent regardless of how much tax payer money is blown on the latest tools. KVHD should be allowed to stand or fail on its own. Do we really need to waste more tax dollars bailing out incompetency?
ReplyDeleteThat is how a survey works. They are paid to call people and ask them 1 question 20 different ways and gauge what the best way to ask that question on a voter form. Thats what they get paid to do. KVHD hired them to do that not PUT them up to it. Yes the hospital does need earthquake retrofitting and yes they need a bigger ER to deal with all the morons coming in for stubbed toes. A real Radiology dept? They have X-ray, Cat Scan and Ultra sound and should be happy they have that.A GOB isn't about going into more debt. It's about having the voters pick up there fair share, which they haven't, and getting the hospital out of debt. The hospital is a mostly government funded facility anyone with a little work can see the books. Good luck figuring out what it all means! The board that is there now has not been the only board the hospital has ever had. So placing all the blame at the feet of the people on there now does not do any good. What if people went over every bad decision you ever made. I'm sure there would be a few just like everyone. Hindsight is 20/20. No Mr. Beedle or Mr. McGlew don't live in the Kern Valley and won't be taxed but neither will the thousands and thousands of people that come up from LA and Bakersfield and who ever knows where else. If Mrs. Burciaga resigned then she resigned on her own accord because that's what she felt was best for her. You miss her? Where do you work at the hospital? I know several people that work at KVHD and I can assure you none of them miss her.
ReplyDeleteFester,
ReplyDeleteI will not disagree with you on the incompetent buffoons!! my only problems is if this hospital fails, we the people of the valley will end up on the short end.
The hospital employs about 150 people they will all be unemployed. I am not to sure whom in the valley employs more people.
The administrators of the hospital do not live in the valley so they will depart and everyone here will be left holding the bag.
In the case of an emergency you can pick the way you will suffer most (or least) Bakersfield or Ridgecrest. I pick neither....
Excuse me John, what you state as "how a survey works" applies to a marketing survey. Like, you know, determining how to present and position the new brand of cigarettes you're about to roll out. The survey I participated in was clearly to gauge public support for a bond measure. My impression is that the surveyor is less motivated to present an accurate picture of the support level and more motivated to tell the KVHD board what they probably want to hear.
ReplyDeleteDon't know where you get off talking about "...having the voters pick up there [SIC] fair share." The market should decide how much and to whom individuals pay for their [correct word here] health care. I've not set foot inside KVHD since the ER there [note correct usage] almost killed me through their ignorance and incompetence. I have no intention of paying anything (fair share or otherwise) to help keep KVHD in business.
And to anonymous, I'm all for seeing 150 people gainfully employed. But I am very much opposed to seeing my tax dollars used to subsidize KVHD so the organization can be in the health care biz just because it wants to be. The two hour round trip to either BF or RC is worth it for the far superior care I get there. I have come by this opinion honestly and by my own experience. The valley needs KVHD like we all need TB.
Can the community vote to close the hospital, keep the skilled nursing center, and maintain an urgent care center (in lieu of an ED/Acute care hospital)? Since the hospital owns the retail pharmacy, it can continue to be managed by the buyer of the urgent care center. I am not aware of many satisfied employees at the hospital and there are too many issues that don't appear to be on the way to resolution. Bakersfield and Ridgecrest are not that far away. Maybe the urgent care center could arrange for a private company to set up dialysis 3 days/week and bring in a portable mammography. There are so many possibilities. But the community needs to decide which direction to lean toward. If the community does not wish to use the hospital, why is it still here? I believe the potential outpt services (radiology, mammography, dialysis, wound care, IV outpt therapy, laboratory, etc) could be so much more efficient and cost effective to manage (privatized) instead of the 24/7 facility that is consistently not meeting the budget or community needs.
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