Kern Valley Healthcare District board candidate: JOHN BLYTHE

Election 2010: Kern Valley Healthcare District Board of Directors candidate John Blythe

John Blythe

Occupation: Motion Picture Producer
Education: AA Liberal Arts – Cerro Coso College;
Entertainment Business Management – University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

Experience: I have had five years experiencing working in the field of film production. A majority of this experience has been in managing the business/legal affairs on independently financed films in the United States and Canada. I’ve also managed and operated my family’s lodging and restaurant business in Lake Isabella for many years, and sat on the Board of Directors for various community organizations and 501 c3 non-profit organizations. I have attended a majority of Kern Valley Healthcare District Board meetings since 2005.

1. Where do you see the hospital in ten years? Twenty years?

If I am elected, I would like to see the district's indebtedness to the bondholders insured by Cal-Mortgage at least 50% reduced by the end of my first term (four years) as Board Member. Over the course of the next four to six years, I would like to see the remaining portion of the debt, either refinanced or continued to be paid off in a manner in which the district can continue to sustain itself on the bottom line of its balance sheet.

During this period, I would like to see upgrades done to our current facility such as our ER, Acute Care Wing and Radiology Department. KVHD is a small hospital, but since the current facility meets current seismic upgrades, it seems more logical to salvage these areas through additional improvements.

Eventually by the year 2030, KVHD will have to be in full compliance of the seismic requirements of SB 1953, so I think during the course of the next twenty years when the current facility is debt free and sustains profitability and net worth, we could use money and/or a more specific GOB that can build a new KVHD related in conjunction with the current facility, that can be used not only as an additional ER, but also the possibility of being used for burn care services, additional surgical operations, etc. A new facility over the course of the next twenty years, with new services, would increase volume and bring new medical staff to our valley.

2. The hospital is a "public healthcare district;" how would you define that to this community?

I think politicians seem to loose touch with relaity. We hear constantly politicians saying "this is what I will do.... this is how I will solve this problem..." When is the last time anyone in the public ever heard a decent response from their elected public officials from the local, county, state or federal level to solve problems?

They carry around this propaganda of "I will fight for you!" when in fact it is exactly the opposite. As a candidate running to become an elected public official, it is the fudiciary duty and responsibility of this individual to listen to the public. Instead of spewing this political campaign message, the candidate for office should be saying "I work for you, what do you want me to do to solve problems...?"

I think too many times in the past, we've seen this at KVHD as well. There were many people in this community that had high hopes for the new board that took over in 2008, and since then, it seems the community feels let down. So I would encourage members of the community to attend monthly board meetings and committee meetings, ask questions and comments and demand answers of both the Board and the Executive Administration.

Community members and hospital employees should not feel intimidated or feared to voice their concern or opinion of our hospital. Many times in the past, hospital staff came forward demanding answers of the Board, and at times certain members were ignorant or simply did not care to provide oversight of the Hospital's Administration to complete a thorough investigation. The action of past board members played an instrumental part in the disaster that occurred in the Skilled Nursing Facility in 2007, resulting in the death of three patients, endless continuing litigation and the indictments of four employees including KVHD's former CEO.

I will ask the public that at any time they feel the Board is not performing its job or function to be knowledgeable in the hospital's operational status, they should ask the board to step down. To quote former KVHD Board Chairman Bob Bibby "if you can't stand the heat, then get out and don't let the door hit you as you leave!"

3. Please finish this sentence..."the job of a KVHD board member is...?

The Job of the KVHD Board is to govern, protect and establish policies for the healthcare district, and to ensure the CEO is to carry out those policies efficiently and effectively. This has certainly not always been the case since I started attending board meetings in 2005. The Board must be well aware of the operations of the healthcare district as mandated by district law. They have every right to be approachable by staff and by the community to address areas of concern, and to see that the Administration acts on those concerns promptly.

4. How much time can you devote to this endeavor if you are elected?

I will devote how ever much time it takes. After attending meetings for nearly five years, and being a key witness into everything that has gone on inside and outside KVHD, I am ready to get my feet wet and step into the water that KVHD has been sinking into for so many years and pull the district out the troubled waters.

There's no doubt that district hospitals nationwide suffer hardships and experience operational issues from State budget cuts, to Medicare/Medi-Cal reimbursement problems, staffing issues, etc., but I firmly believe that the district is in a position right now to finally tackle the problems it needs to solve, one of the key issues is the debt, which is why the district has been sinking for so many years. That is the area I'd like to focus on in the first two years of my term if I am elected, and I want to devote a majority of my time addressing that issue in particular.

Candidate Statement:

I am currently running for a seat on the Kern Valley Healthcare District Board of Directors. My professional experience has been in working in motion picture production. A majority of this experience has been managing business facets on independently financed films in the United States and Canada as Production Manager and Executive Producer. I am President of Film Regions International, Inc., a Los Angeles based small independent production company that I run with three other associates for the purpose of producing feature length motion pictures to be showcased and marketed to international distributors and film festivals.

Additionally, I have worked as General/Operating Manager of Paradise Cove Enterprises, which was started by my grandparents, Bo and Margaret Williams, and my mother Pam, is the current owner. My father Jack, who passed away in 2005 was the former owner/operator of the Lake Isabella Ice Company.

I have been active over the years in a number of organizations, including 501 (c) 3 non-profits: I am a member of the fraternal community-service organization National Exchange Club, Kern Valley Exchange Club, and served on the board of directors from 2008-2009; I also served on the boards for both Kern River Valley Revitalization, Inc. (KRVR) (2007-2008) and the Kern Valley Youth Center (2008-2009). I am a 2004 graduate of Kern Valley High School; I received an Associates Degree from Cerro Coso College and continued with my major in Entertainment Business Management at UCLA.

This will be my third time running in the election for a seat on the Kern Valley Healthcare District board, and like most of my fellow candidates, I share the specific concern about quality patient care and keeping the hospital in the community.

I began attending board meetings nearly five years ago, and ran for a seat in the 2006 election. When I first decided to run that year, I immediately felt the district had a pretty poor image, and this has continued to escalate since then. I have actively kept up with reading the monthly financial statements, attended a majority of board meetings since 2006, and have witnessed much tension and drama over these years. I re-ran for the board in 2008, and received good support from the community, but still did not get elected.

My expressed concern has been in the following areas that I have identified at KVHD:

1. The $12 million debt, which stems from the original 1986 Revenue Bonds for the construction of the hospital’s original intended plan of a 150 unit skilled nursing facility, which were insured by the State of California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development’s division, Cal-Mortgage. During the construction phase, the first bond payment had come due, and the district went into default. Cal-Mortgage’s objective at that time was to issue additional Revenue Bonds (specifically amounting to $22 million) as a way to defuse the original bond of only $12 million. The problem was due to the Seismic Safety requirements imposed by the State of California in 1989, the skilled nursing facility’s 150 unit construction project was scaled back to only accommodate the present 74 units, however the district was faced with the issue of dealing with the larger revenue bond obligations.

In short, the district received a much smaller facility for twice the cost, and stuck with a larger debt that simply contradicted the original financial projections of the 150 unit facility to pay it off. This indebtedness has been a major catastrophe from preventing this hospital from becoming financially profitable, and moving forward into a position were it can sustain itself with out a heavy burden in terms of reduction in its liabilities.

Since 1992, Cal Mortgage, exercising its right under the regulatory agreement, has imposed several hospital management firms, including Delta One Healthcare Group (1990-1995), and Brim Healthcare (2000-2003), with the objective to refinance the bonds, and regulate the Board into hiring CEO's that are paid executive salaries, and some have been unqualified to run the hospital and do not contribute to the economy of the valley.

In June of this year, when the District received another default notice from Cal-Mortgage, the district contracted with HFS Healthcare Consultants out of Santa Ana, Calif. This is a very interesting pattern that just about every ten years this District's bond payments go into default, and consulting firms are brought in by Cal-Mortgage. On the other hand, over the last fifteen years, the District has consulted with outside firms that were not imposed by Cal-Mortgage, including McBee and Associates (1996-1998), as well as other outside consultants and legal firms, who have indicated the inability of the district to pay off this long-term debt, and have advocated debt reorganization, or at least negotiate with Cal-Mortgage through a California Superior Court to reduce this debt by 50%, and refinance the remaining debt which would substantially improve the district's bottom line on its balance sheet.

The hospital may report a net profit from time to time, but by simply subtracting the hospital’s present assets by its liabilities on its balance sheet, this identifies its negative net worth. As of this fiscal year, the district now has $12 million existing in long term debt, which incidentally was the original amount of revenue bonds that were issued back in 1986.

2. SB 1953 -- Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act requirements. KVHD originally asked the community to support the Measure M general obligation bond in the November 7, 2006 election. At the time, I personally was in support of that bond issue, however I have since felt that the project was not feasibly studied. In saying this, the district asked for a $12.5 million general obligation bond to be passed to rebuild our emergency room and acute care wing, however it was later learned that some of the construction plans were not looked into thoroughly including the building site were the hospital’s leach lines are located. Had the bond measure passed, the district would have been asking the tax payers for more money to solve these problems.

There must be a strong strategic plan for any future building project for any potential bond measure that is put in place. Now, the district is asking the community for $22.7 million for basically the same project, but use part of this GOB to pay off the revenue bonds insured by Cal-Mortgage. In a way, this almost sounds like one of the recent ‘Government Bailouts’ we’ve seen, as to basically throw this on the backs of taxpayers to solve the problems that Cal-Mortgage initiated during the seismic requirements in 1990.

There is no question that this District deserves better, and major upgrades in terms of modern medical technology need to be here to meet the needs of the patients especially in the ER and radiology departments, however with the problems of today, this is not the right time to ask the community to pass this bond measure.

3. The major issues, which occurred in the hospital's skilled nursing facility in 2007. To be perfectly honest, each time I bring up the discussion of the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) investigating the Skilled Nursing Facility more than two years ago, I cannot help but feel somewhat sickened by the entire episode when elderly patients were neglected and forced to take medications which caused both injury and death to some of these patients. Why a previous administration allowed this to happen at all, and not take any responsibility remains a mystery. As a result of disastrous mismanagement by this previous administration, the State Attorney General filed charges for elder abuse leading to the indictments of the district's former CEO, an Emergency Room Doctor, a Director of Nursing and Pharmacist.

One board meeting I attended back in October 2006 when several hospital employees indicated problems in the Skilled Nursing Facility, as well as understaffing. Apparently, nothing was done to solve the problems, nor prevent them from escalating. As a result of the previous hospital administration’s actions, CDHS and Center of Medicaid Services imposed hefty penalties and the hospital had to pay over $2 million to Sycamore Asset Management to control the Skilled Nursing Facility for a year to get the issues resolved.

I strongly feel that if the board had chosen to exercise more oversight over the hospital administration at that time, and helped conduct an internal investigation of the hospital, this would have possibly prevented patients from being abused, neglected, over medicated and resulting in their deaths, and the district would not have several pending law-suits, and a deteriorating reputation as ABC World News exploited last year.

If I am elected, I would like to strongly enforce the board's position and power to handle critical issues such as this, and open more transparency with both the hospital employees and the community.

In addition to my diverse board experience for many organizations in the valley, I feel that my knowledge and experience in the business environment both in my family's business and working in the business and legal end on film productions, enables me to understand the operations of Kern Valley Healthcare District. I am able to understand and interpret financial statements including balance sheets and profit & loss statements, and also to choose fair and ethical decisions.

What the top priority is, however, is to give quality care to our patients and visitors of the Kern River Valley . If elected on November 2nd, I would also like to concentrate my efforts on the following goals:

• Current and future hospital administration and management must be held accountable for problems and issues that arise within the Kern Valley Healthcare District.

• The need to re-establish trust and transparency and the need to develop positive working relationships with the dedicated hospital staff and employees, as well as the community and organizations in the valley.

• Promoting the expansion of health services in our valley. This includes expanding the services of our surgical department, which loses hundreds of thousands of dollars a year due to understaffing and patients being transferred to Bakersfield or Ridgecrest.

• Retain employees that are residents of our valley, instead of the use of outside registry. KVHD is the largest employer in Lake Isabella, and recruitment of medical staff needs to be strongly endorsed.

• Reduction in the Healthcare District’s long term debt obligations. Specifically, I would like to see the district's debt largely reduced by the end of my first term, in which the district can be able to sustain and support itself.

• Recognize that the responsibility of the Kern Valley Healthcare District Board is to serve the public unselfishly. Simply put, the Kern Valley Healthcare District Board works for the taxpayers of the Kern River Valley.

I am dedicated to working with the hospital staff and employees and my fellow board members, to work on the future of our hospital, if I am elected. We cannot get all of the work done overnight and it will take the responsibility and commitment on all of our behalves to ensure that the Kern Valley Healthcare District remains in Lake Isabella. We continue to face hard challenges here in America, and KVHD is in a similar situation facing hardships. Simply put, KVHD needs to officially reposition itself transitionally and strategically to remain operational, and I believe by going through the aforementioned goals, KVHD can move forward in a positive direction.

Please vote for John Blythe for the Kern Valley Healthcare District Board; and follow me on my Facebook page: John Blythe for Kern Valley Hospital Board.


John R. Blythe President Film Regions International, Inc. (FRI)A California Corporation

P.O. Box 1336 Santa Monica, California 90406

Phone: (760) 223-6045

Email: john@filmregions.com