As we approach the next court date in the Kern Valley Healthcare District soap opera, "Specific Hospital" when the new season begins next Tuesday, March 9, nobody here in the valley knows what to expect.
Several mystery pieces to the puzzle should be cleared up. During the end of last season's cliff hanger, former CEO, Ott, who had been given the Martha Stewart treatment as she "came in on her own recognizance" in exchange for respect, no bail necessary, and fashionable clothing rather than an orange jumpsuit.
And Ott's attorney, waved his hand at me dismissing the charges as nothing more than small town gossip. (What do I know)
(I would probably agree that at any other time it was small town gossip, though in this case, it was the gossip that kept Ott's iron's out of the fire, at least until the truth was so damning that even board member, Bob Jamison's now famous attempts at portraying Ott as the "victim" didn't last.)
In Attorney General Jerry Brown's press release that I have on my wall and walk by and give it a kiss each day, there is the paragraph that changed my whole thinking that the AG's office would never "get it" the truth.
Now, we're looking at our watches for March 9, and waiting on the justice. Excerpt from press release DOJ, Feb. 9, 2010.
In addition to today's court victory, BMFEA has investigated and prosecuted
several other notable elder abuse cases in the past year. Late last year in
Sacramento, Maria Elna Flora pleaded guilty to 12 counts of grand theft and
burglary for stealing $435,100 from retirees to fund a daily gambling habit.
In
September 2009, Brown filed charges against Pamela Ott, a Kern Valley
Hospital
administrator, for allowing staff to forcibly administer
psychotropic
medications to patients to sedate them for the staff's
convenience. The case is
pending in Kern County Superior Court.
The first in line for abuse Brown's press release declared, was Mary Louise Wilson, who had a problem setting fires, but nobody died as a consequence of her latent pyromania, as she was a "resident" not an employee or administrator of several nursing homes.
In descending order of elder abuser state gathered "rankings" is the gambler, who couldn't fold them, and began stealing from the elderly to continue her gambling habit. Almost half a million in what? Out of curiosity what might have been at a nursing home that was stolen from residents that could be worth that much?
Usually, there is no jewelry left on, though in certain cases there could be. But what else did she take? Cash laying around is not usually an issue as there is no where to spend it.
Finally, now to Pam Ott, the CEO, nursing home administrator, giving her permission to staff to drug patients in a manner which had not, according to public health records, been done before.
She didn't seem to be looking away and allowing a reportedly highly "irritable" nurse to keep patients quiet so she could think.
Sorry, some of these claims are preposterous. Ott brought in exactly who she thought she needed after getting slammed in the annual inspections for the use of physical restraints and lack of staff leading to patient weight loss and dehydration.
Mary Louise Wilson, got a prison sentence of almost 20 years, for her problem fire bugging the homes she stayed in. And the people were injured and no one was killed.
In Ott's case, I'm wondering about the charges, as the state claims that several people died at KVHD because of the treatments and the lack of proper staffing.
The quotes; the story...
We will soon see what the Department of Justice will do with the case against Ott.
(If there is a 50-50 chance that something can go wrong, then 9 times out of ten it will.
Paul Harvey)
One of the concerns of many people is how the state is able to even understand this case as the cover up was thicker than Maybelline.
(The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.
Edward R. Murrow)
This situation at the hospital, did not have to happen, and had there been vigilance or even some oversight it well may never have happened.
(This country has far more problems than it deserves and far more solutions than it applies.
Ralph Nader)
Locally, the problem with communication within two small media outlets who rely on the hospital for advertising dollars, was that the coverage became cloudy, and before people knew what was happening, the dust had settled and kicked up once again.
(Multinational corporations do control. They control the politicians. They control the media. They control the pattern of consumption, entertainment, thinking. They're destroying the planet and laying the foundation for violent outbursts and racial division.
Jerry Brown)
Small communities can certainly contribute to the larger picture, but sometimes there are problems in insular type of places such as the KRV, where instead of kicking out the mediocrity, it seems to have moved to protect it.
(Where there is a sufficient social movement of self-reliant communities, there can be political change. There must be political change.
Jerry Brown)
The media in this local area showed it had a difficult time investigating it's home town story of unfortunate proportion. It had what many outlets have, is the question of the truth versus popularity as well as money.
Then there is the sadder tale of the ABC news and Diane Sawyer coming in three years after the fact, and no facts of import added to the story, no corrections made to the story, and this is what we call "journalism."
(I love the early process of asking questions about a story and deciding which questions matter most. Diane Sawyerism
An investigation, may take six months. A quick interview, profile, a day. Diane Sawyer…)
I think we forget that the role of a local politician is just as important if not more important than those of the distant offices in Sacramento and Washington DC. The local politicians know the people, know the region, the history, and the needs, which makes them important to the growth and vitality.
But if we don't vote in the right people, we get situations such as the one's we are currently dealing with in court.
("Sure there are dishonest men in local government. But there are dishonest men in national government too." -Richard M. Nixon)
More to come as the next court date approaches where we will likely meet the "quiet one's," attorney's Donald Etra and Allan Ginsburg, who supposedly have taken over the criminal portion of the Dr. Hoshang Pormir case.
lets play basketball!!!
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