The third and final defendant in the Kern Valley Healthcare District's elder abuse case plead guilty to one count of elder abuse and will be sentenced January 9th 2013.
Gwen Hughes, Director of Nursing at the KVHD Skilled nursing facility for six months in 2006, avoided ten counts of elder abuse and assault, instead admitting to one single count of abuse.
The thud that has been heard around the Kern River Valley, as former KVHD CEO, Pamela Ott, and Skilled nursing physician, Dr. Hoshang Pormir,also took deals from the California State Attorney General's office with only probation as their sentence.
Commensurate? Not close, but it's no surprise that no alteration of course has occurred within the justice system, which truly turns out to be JUST US.
The elder abuse case which highlighted abuses of staffing, pharmaceuticals, the inefficacy of government oversight to prevent such systematic failure as to potentially have lead to extremes such as death of residents.
Provided to the DOJ, Governor Jerry BRown, Attorney General Kamala Harris, who have all moved on with their political agendas, leaving in their wake, a certain quality of clarity.
They don't care.
They will not fight for simple humanity, as they must have none.
But some of us, will never stop fighting against this victim machine. Just higher up the food chain this time around.
lol See you there.
Persistance and Tenacity, requires a new chapter, a new beginning....
Showing posts with label CEO Pam Ott. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CEO Pam Ott. Show all posts
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
OTt file UNAVAILABLE until Friday, AUg. 31
A quick run to the FELony Department of the kern County Superior Court Came up Clueless as To the Secrets of the Elder Abuse TRial and Plead out, As Pamela Ott, had her portion of CAse 126665 ACD, heard And Was Expected to Take a Plea Deal for Conspiracy as did her fellow Defendant, Dr. Hoshang Pormir, Took at a hearing last month.
Pormir, was Able to feel a step of no more Resistance, as he was SENTENCED to Three years probation For Pleading Guilty to one count of Conspiracy, rather than the list of EIGHT Elder Abuse CHARges, He origninally faced when he was arrested in 2009.
Ott, and Pormir, have the same Case number, but The Two office Workers, consulted behind a Filing Cabinet this past FRiday, agreeing that looking for the file would be lost time, as they expect it STAYed in Court For Ott's Continued Motion Due up Aug. 29th.
THE motion could NOT Be identified by the Felony office Worker, and she was not inclined to SEARch and find this FILE. It was Really a Lost source, as I could NOT get any notes other than the items listed on the court's Website. Nothing of explanation was on the site, and the Manual labor Required to find said file, was left unused.
So, our source of INFormatioN Required a Check and there was no Doubling the Trouble I would have caused, as I ASKEd if they would LOOK, but I Was Assured, there was NOTHING to look for, as the FILe for Dr. POrmir WAs also Not AVailable for copies, viewing, or Lie Detection.
As Pormir, had a conspiracy charge and it takes two to make a Conspiring mind, There has been suggested, by insiders, that Ott, would Plead to the same Charge and be Given Similar Sentencing, Probation, without Jail Time. Ott slipped in Without seeing at least a finger print on the wall, but the court ushered her in and Shushed her out, without JAil or jumpsuits or any sort of Serious Response.
Why is OTt so Lucky?
Why did I throw evidence at the those unwilling to see it as such? DOJ, Department of Justice, Attorney, Steven Muni, rejected and selected the Evidence which really does not do it justice. LOL
DOJ and FORmer AG, Jerry Brown, SEemed unwilling to have a CAse loaded with White collar Criminals.
As of Now, We have Director Of Nursing, Gwen Hughes, waiting her turn in court, but she may face a Severe penalty where Doc and CEO, Supposedly conspiring together to Cover their Drug use on the Skilled nursing facility residents, but Hughes has to face the firing Squad who will take anyone But the top dogs to the pound for euthanasia.
Next week Ott will likely plead out to a conspiracy Charge or some other MOTION of unknown actions will be instituted to delay a Trial Date starting the clock. This motion was NOT meant to be Known or the court would have put that IN it's RECORD the public can access. It will be something of a Question, but in the long run, Ott has skated on thin ice past most of the others involved in the ELDER abuse case.
KVHD Board members never SAW a moment of INcriminatIOn Except from me. I offer that they are a Group that had to have some FRIENDS, Documents, or Demented Principles, to escape such OBvious Conditions of Deceptive and retributive practices.
I will NOT accept the excuses of anyone as I SUPPORTED my contentions with Video, Audio, Documentation, Witnesses, and this sad affair Showed less than honest investigative practices as only certain Rocks were turned over for Examination.
Selective JUSTICE?
And that is Why it is JUST US now?
If it's transparent, then YOU can see thru it. Justice would have a quality such as that. But no, justice, was not a FACTOR, maybe a fact, but it never saw the Light of day in court in this case.
But it Still does not change the TRUTH of what happened.
You can send Pormir and Ott to the dungeons, but what is missing, is the Value of Hearing the Facts. We can't seem to determine, whether Ott or Pormir are victims or players. Ott had a Crime Angel on her Shoulder as her Deeds were somehow a dismissive hand gesture away. Not taken seriously, called rumor or simply ignored.
I was told that my interference was not appreciated. Okay?
Why would someone only beholding to truth, be so polarizing to the situation?
It's never a burden to carry truth, but it takes FAith to stay in for the long haul. The weakness is to forget it is the ONLY way. Other ways have been fabricated, or corrupted, but This is an immutable fact and it's acceptance can lead to healing, forgiveness or other more favorable outcomes.
Some day, I'll have the DOJ at my door claiming I Told too much truth, and it was now a Crime to continue to ask for Transparency. My Crime will be to only embrace truth and not be willing to have less. Lawyers will call it an antagonistic position, one of harassment, and thereby belittling those unable to have truth. Liars will now have medicines and doctors, therapy, a minority status, and truth will be out in the cold.
(AS the dish is best served. )
LOL
Let's try this again. Ott returns to court next wEd. Aug. 29th, and she will be sentenced or Plead to charges of conspiracy injurious to the public.
Pormir, was out in July, probation his sentence.
Hughes remains the final player, who has to face a potential trial, but with the first two taking deals, it would not be unlikely she would do the same if it were offered. But Hughes, I"m afraid, was a puppet and the masters have left on their probation.
Her limited employment time shows Hughes to be only a response to elder abuse conditions shown in an earlier survey of the department. She had less than six months at KVHD.
The Department of Health SErvices, were pointing fingers at the SNF for patient dehydration, short staffing, and PHYSICAL restraints. Hughes came on and the patients were now on drugs as a form of restraint. And one against her will, several nurses administering something to quiet her down.
Get it?
Complaints at KVHD from nursing home residents?
They are not welcome or accepted from outside the hallowed halls, I feel nothing but sad as this must have been a paranoia inducing experience to be shut down with a needle, five nurses, and a doctor's okaying of the prescription. As this woman was wrangled and deemed in need of some restraint....
I am sure they did not see it for themselves, though.
Pormir, was Able to feel a step of no more Resistance, as he was SENTENCED to Three years probation For Pleading Guilty to one count of Conspiracy, rather than the list of EIGHT Elder Abuse CHARges, He origninally faced when he was arrested in 2009.
Ott, and Pormir, have the same Case number, but The Two office Workers, consulted behind a Filing Cabinet this past FRiday, agreeing that looking for the file would be lost time, as they expect it STAYed in Court For Ott's Continued Motion Due up Aug. 29th.
THE motion could NOT Be identified by the Felony office Worker, and she was not inclined to SEARch and find this FILE. It was Really a Lost source, as I could NOT get any notes other than the items listed on the court's Website. Nothing of explanation was on the site, and the Manual labor Required to find said file, was left unused.
So, our source of INFormatioN Required a Check and there was no Doubling the Trouble I would have caused, as I ASKEd if they would LOOK, but I Was Assured, there was NOTHING to look for, as the FILe for Dr. POrmir WAs also Not AVailable for copies, viewing, or Lie Detection.
As Pormir, had a conspiracy charge and it takes two to make a Conspiring mind, There has been suggested, by insiders, that Ott, would Plead to the same Charge and be Given Similar Sentencing, Probation, without Jail Time. Ott slipped in Without seeing at least a finger print on the wall, but the court ushered her in and Shushed her out, without JAil or jumpsuits or any sort of Serious Response.
Why is OTt so Lucky?
Why did I throw evidence at the those unwilling to see it as such? DOJ, Department of Justice, Attorney, Steven Muni, rejected and selected the Evidence which really does not do it justice. LOL
DOJ and FORmer AG, Jerry Brown, SEemed unwilling to have a CAse loaded with White collar Criminals.
As of Now, We have Director Of Nursing, Gwen Hughes, waiting her turn in court, but she may face a Severe penalty where Doc and CEO, Supposedly conspiring together to Cover their Drug use on the Skilled nursing facility residents, but Hughes has to face the firing Squad who will take anyone But the top dogs to the pound for euthanasia.
Next week Ott will likely plead out to a conspiracy Charge or some other MOTION of unknown actions will be instituted to delay a Trial Date starting the clock. This motion was NOT meant to be Known or the court would have put that IN it's RECORD the public can access. It will be something of a Question, but in the long run, Ott has skated on thin ice past most of the others involved in the ELDER abuse case.
KVHD Board members never SAW a moment of INcriminatIOn Except from me. I offer that they are a Group that had to have some FRIENDS, Documents, or Demented Principles, to escape such OBvious Conditions of Deceptive and retributive practices.
I will NOT accept the excuses of anyone as I SUPPORTED my contentions with Video, Audio, Documentation, Witnesses, and this sad affair Showed less than honest investigative practices as only certain Rocks were turned over for Examination.
Selective JUSTICE?
And that is Why it is JUST US now?
If it's transparent, then YOU can see thru it. Justice would have a quality such as that. But no, justice, was not a FACTOR, maybe a fact, but it never saw the Light of day in court in this case.
But it Still does not change the TRUTH of what happened.
You can send Pormir and Ott to the dungeons, but what is missing, is the Value of Hearing the Facts. We can't seem to determine, whether Ott or Pormir are victims or players. Ott had a Crime Angel on her Shoulder as her Deeds were somehow a dismissive hand gesture away. Not taken seriously, called rumor or simply ignored.
I was told that my interference was not appreciated. Okay?
Why would someone only beholding to truth, be so polarizing to the situation?
It's never a burden to carry truth, but it takes FAith to stay in for the long haul. The weakness is to forget it is the ONLY way. Other ways have been fabricated, or corrupted, but This is an immutable fact and it's acceptance can lead to healing, forgiveness or other more favorable outcomes.
Some day, I'll have the DOJ at my door claiming I Told too much truth, and it was now a Crime to continue to ask for Transparency. My Crime will be to only embrace truth and not be willing to have less. Lawyers will call it an antagonistic position, one of harassment, and thereby belittling those unable to have truth. Liars will now have medicines and doctors, therapy, a minority status, and truth will be out in the cold.
(AS the dish is best served. )
LOL
Let's try this again. Ott returns to court next wEd. Aug. 29th, and she will be sentenced or Plead to charges of conspiracy injurious to the public.
Pormir, was out in July, probation his sentence.
Hughes remains the final player, who has to face a potential trial, but with the first two taking deals, it would not be unlikely she would do the same if it were offered. But Hughes, I"m afraid, was a puppet and the masters have left on their probation.
Her limited employment time shows Hughes to be only a response to elder abuse conditions shown in an earlier survey of the department. She had less than six months at KVHD.
The Department of Health SErvices, were pointing fingers at the SNF for patient dehydration, short staffing, and PHYSICAL restraints. Hughes came on and the patients were now on drugs as a form of restraint. And one against her will, several nurses administering something to quiet her down.
Get it?
Complaints at KVHD from nursing home residents?
They are not welcome or accepted from outside the hallowed halls, I feel nothing but sad as this must have been a paranoia inducing experience to be shut down with a needle, five nurses, and a doctor's okaying of the prescription. As this woman was wrangled and deemed in need of some restraint....
I am sure they did not see it for themselves, though.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Dr. Hoshang Pormir sentenced 3 years probation...DOJ claims success
Dr. Hoshang Pormir was sentenced today in the Kern County Superior court to three years probation as he plead no contest to a "conspiracy" charge in the Kern Valley Healthcare District elder abuse case, as prosecutors agreed he wrote orders to drug his patients, but did not CAUSE their deaths.
Pormir, who has been alleged to have had knowledge of the situation with his patients, according to witnesses NOT included in the California Department of Justice case, will have a felony on his record and will have some restriction as to where he can and will work continuing his career as a doctor.
Though co-defendant Pamela Ott, former KVHD CEO, with false credentials, and a working relationship with Pormir, hired Director of Nursing, Gwen Hughes months after the KVHD skilled nursing facility was cited for the use of "physical restraints, dehydration, weight loss," all known as "elder abuse" Ott has also plead out and will be sentenced next month, Aug. 22.
Ott introduced Hughes to the facility and it's doctors and board members, accrediting Hughes with an "expertise" in the use of "psychiatric drugs" as in "30 years worth of experience" and this was also quoted in the small hospital's local newspaper shortly after the new DON arrived.
Hughes, however, will likely be the scapegoat, though she was responsible for the staff who administered the drugs, she was also a victim of the political climate, those trying to sweep problems under the rug, as only Ott and Pormir were involved in attempting to obtain a 12 MILLION DOLLAR BOND.
This was known as Measure M, and it came at a time that the KVHD SNF had major problems with both federal and state agencies. The six months Hughes came on was a relatively short period compared to other administrators overlooked by the DOJ investigators.
The Skilled Nursing Facility was under scrutiny in 2006, and Ott along with several co-conspirators, or board members, kept the information from the public and even law enforcement. No charges have ever been filed against any board members in this case.
First of it's kind...they say
As if it would somehow change the public perception, as if not enough manipulation has already been applied in this case, today, in the Californian article, The DOJ is supposed to have said this is a "first of it's kind" prosecution on "drugging for convenience." They didn't really add much more than to try use the climax of the case to make it look "not so dirty" what has happened.
(Prosecutor, Steven Muni, seems to have experience and education, but no shame, as this DOJ attorney has not gotten one single elder abuse defendant from KVHD to trial. Probation as it stands today, is all this prosecutor can muster from what Governor Jerry Brown, called the "worst case of elder abuse" he has ever seen.)
Or more likely to step away from the real reasons, the truth, as it played no role whatsoever in this case.
The case of the state of California was it's own agenda and a complete fraud and fabrication. I say that with the utmost certainty. And under oath perhaps, one day?
This blog and all it's contents, is dedicated to those who suffered and continue to do so. Some have died. And for those who were bullied and could not speak, this is their voice. It was and is my service to speak the truth in this case as best I can and for those who cannot. Not a burden whatsoever.
The truth never seems to be a problem for those who have it, it's those "have nots" that have the problem.
Witness against the prosecutors...
These prosecutors who may not realize how hapless they really sound, may have gotten the notion that they could spin out of the responsibility with another manipulation of true events. It's so off key they will probably notice it with their own ears.
We are not privy to the underpinnings of what happened inside the Attorney General's office when now Governor Jerry Brown, lead his campaign for a new California Governor on the coat tails of cases such as KVHD.
Brown got down and dirty calling it the "worst elder abuse case" he'd ever seen.
Somehow, that seems hollow and self serving and maybe even sickening for some who look on as prosecutors from the state are watching the defendants in the Governor's words the worst, walk away with probation.
One could imagine the Governor "of Austerity" to have made a quick call, keep the press from tracing this disaster to his door step. And voila! Steve Muni, lead prosecutor, pokes his head from under the blankets long enough to tell us this is a "first."
Most hope that all involved will have some sort of last, I'm sure.
Where is Brown's Statement?
Peekaboo, we see you...Missing today is a statement from the mastermind of the mansion, Governor Brown. But it's not forthcoming as his ilk is cowardly and estranged from reality.
Here's some truth: This is the worst political ploy to help a "skin flint" gubernatorial candidate exploit his sworn office as Attorney General to springboard into a Governor's election, I've had the displeasure of seeing first hand.
How's that? Different ring of truth when you apply real truth.
His Press Releases were rolling like thunder onto the campaign trail and like a true politician, a true expert in deceit, he rode that wave of misery into the governor's mansion using every victim, every defendant, to raise the ire of all who could and would not harm the elderly. All who would vote for someone ready to change the situation for the elderly.
This really conveys to those who are not yet shocked by the deeds done in this KVHD nightmare about how far reaching this con game goes.
Governor Jerry Brown used the office of the attorney general, a position of trust and truth, a position of responsibility, to build an illusion of caring for those who were harmed, justifying a visit to our friends at ABC World News tonight, and Diane Sawyer, in a well timed, well viewed, friendly "elder abuse" segment.
(I guess raising funds in the AG office is easier. He created himself a hero to the elderly in those early press releases. Then was aided with some FREE stuff from ABC news.)
Sawyer gave Brown some feel good editing, a few repugnant expressions for the camera, you almost believed these two really cared about those patients and their horrendous fate at KVHD.
What hurts is that there are still those who put their trust in both Sawyer and Brown.
Candidate and AG...
But Brown started campaigning for Governor long before he announced his plans, refusing to commit to his candidacy, and continuing to launch a political campaign inside the AG office with all it's resources and his secret "campaign contributor. "
Here on this blog, is my prediction at least six months in advance of his declaration to run for office, of the AG Brown's obvious "pre-campaign" activities. He certainly had a way of churning out the PR and creating himself in a certain light.
Later the LA Times and Sacramento Bee would question his use of the AG office as a springboard. But as is standard for those tied to the money, the political quote fest, they allowed the issue to go away. These gatekeepers decide who they will shut the gate on and it wasn't Jerry Brown.
However, any attempt to nail down this other Brown deception, could lead to "his" current AG having to raise at least an eyebrow if not a finger.
Who is in charge now...
Kamala Harris didn't make a stir about elder abuse, but she did benefit from Brown's hyperbole as KVHD the worst he has seen, as she rode along with the would be, could be, wanna be, on the campaign trail in 2010.
Well, she's our AG, the one who would be obligated to ignore her mentor, Governor Brown's slight digressions from the truth. I'm sure she's just brushing it off or walking it off...all that shame.
Harris, supposedly a hard core prosecutor, out for families, those who need justice, has sat quietly, not answering to the lowly types such as myself who continue to ask why?
Ducking and hiding wasn't too necessary as I've been busily pointing fingers on my own for a while now. Only recently has any other publication or media outlet even noticed anything.
PBS, is a place to find the story, but it's a story. Again, there is the truth as we experienced and witnessed it, and then there's the spin, those who use misery to gain attention themselves. Such as what PBS did in a upstaging fashion. Details on drugs as if the whole story was to be used at a medical convention.
AARP where are you?
I asked this question of the legal department of the AARP, which claims to be a significant benefactor for the aged and elderly.
The little communication I had with this massive corporate sell out of aged people everywhere, simply checked in to KVHD under Fire, lit up momentarily to apologize for not looking into the druggings, and then left off as I suggested they ask Kamala Harris what was happening with the case.
This is what they actually did. lol They looked, then called our current California AG and POOF, disappeared. So, I would not rely on their next "the best nursing home issue" of 2012 to be accurate and forthcoming.
AARP, may not stand for anything after all.
Dishonorable mention goes to...
While there is some speculation on my part that the presence of high powered attorneys Donald Etra and William Howard 'Ginsburg played a crucial role in obtaining these lackluster plea deals, and then to have them drop off the face of the earth, to be replaced by "public defenders" made this all the more madcap.
Etra a visitor to the George W. Bush Whitehouse, and Ginsburg attorney for Monica Lewinsky, whose chubby, child like, good looks were far too much for President Bill Clinton to resist, were here and then gone in the KVHD case. Though I must say it was a fun twist when I caught them all on video. (see youtube)
Pormir and Ott both have had financial help at the direction of several of the KVHD board of directors.
Hughes was never given monies for her criminal case. Nor any help with the civil cases either. But she sure looks like their target.
Donald Etra left the case, with no communication, and has not answered any further inquiries. Pormir's current "cheap legal guy" some sort of half legal clerk and half the price, Fred Gagliardini, has denied any potential plead outs was made prior to his services being sought as the defendants have been given the "below sticker" price deals thus far.
But Mr. Gagliardini, wants us to believe he himself was responsible for settling this elder abuse matter, no influence from the big time attorney's whatsoever.
I would tend to disagree.
Likely, the influence of the influential was just that. Etra and Ginsburg cared for no one. They were there flexing some muscle, and if I'm right, they loosened the lid A LOT for the public defenders to follow.
Final thoughts...
There is no way to take back the pain these people have caused, all of them. But rest assured none of this goes unchecked. None of this is okay, right, believable or worthy. And I was a witness to these events. I have researched, I have uncovered, questioned.
And the truth will always prevail. It's the only thing real about any of this...
Bakersfield Californian: http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x920646019/Doctor-gets-three-years-probation-in-patient-drugging-case?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tbc619+%28The+Bakersfield+Californian+--+Latest+News%29&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner
Pormir, who has been alleged to have had knowledge of the situation with his patients, according to witnesses NOT included in the California Department of Justice case, will have a felony on his record and will have some restriction as to where he can and will work continuing his career as a doctor.
Though co-defendant Pamela Ott, former KVHD CEO, with false credentials, and a working relationship with Pormir, hired Director of Nursing, Gwen Hughes months after the KVHD skilled nursing facility was cited for the use of "physical restraints, dehydration, weight loss," all known as "elder abuse" Ott has also plead out and will be sentenced next month, Aug. 22.
Ott introduced Hughes to the facility and it's doctors and board members, accrediting Hughes with an "expertise" in the use of "psychiatric drugs" as in "30 years worth of experience" and this was also quoted in the small hospital's local newspaper shortly after the new DON arrived.
Hughes, however, will likely be the scapegoat, though she was responsible for the staff who administered the drugs, she was also a victim of the political climate, those trying to sweep problems under the rug, as only Ott and Pormir were involved in attempting to obtain a 12 MILLION DOLLAR BOND.
This was known as Measure M, and it came at a time that the KVHD SNF had major problems with both federal and state agencies. The six months Hughes came on was a relatively short period compared to other administrators overlooked by the DOJ investigators.
The Skilled Nursing Facility was under scrutiny in 2006, and Ott along with several co-conspirators, or board members, kept the information from the public and even law enforcement. No charges have ever been filed against any board members in this case.
First of it's kind...they say
As if it would somehow change the public perception, as if not enough manipulation has already been applied in this case, today, in the Californian article, The DOJ is supposed to have said this is a "first of it's kind" prosecution on "drugging for convenience." They didn't really add much more than to try use the climax of the case to make it look "not so dirty" what has happened.
(Prosecutor, Steven Muni, seems to have experience and education, but no shame, as this DOJ attorney has not gotten one single elder abuse defendant from KVHD to trial. Probation as it stands today, is all this prosecutor can muster from what Governor Jerry Brown, called the "worst case of elder abuse" he has ever seen.)
Or more likely to step away from the real reasons, the truth, as it played no role whatsoever in this case.
The case of the state of California was it's own agenda and a complete fraud and fabrication. I say that with the utmost certainty. And under oath perhaps, one day?
This blog and all it's contents, is dedicated to those who suffered and continue to do so. Some have died. And for those who were bullied and could not speak, this is their voice. It was and is my service to speak the truth in this case as best I can and for those who cannot. Not a burden whatsoever.
The truth never seems to be a problem for those who have it, it's those "have nots" that have the problem.
Witness against the prosecutors...
These prosecutors who may not realize how hapless they really sound, may have gotten the notion that they could spin out of the responsibility with another manipulation of true events. It's so off key they will probably notice it with their own ears.
We are not privy to the underpinnings of what happened inside the Attorney General's office when now Governor Jerry Brown, lead his campaign for a new California Governor on the coat tails of cases such as KVHD.
Brown got down and dirty calling it the "worst elder abuse case" he'd ever seen.
Somehow, that seems hollow and self serving and maybe even sickening for some who look on as prosecutors from the state are watching the defendants in the Governor's words the worst, walk away with probation.
One could imagine the Governor "of Austerity" to have made a quick call, keep the press from tracing this disaster to his door step. And voila! Steve Muni, lead prosecutor, pokes his head from under the blankets long enough to tell us this is a "first."
Most hope that all involved will have some sort of last, I'm sure.
Where is Brown's Statement?
Peekaboo, we see you...Missing today is a statement from the mastermind of the mansion, Governor Brown. But it's not forthcoming as his ilk is cowardly and estranged from reality.
Here's some truth: This is the worst political ploy to help a "skin flint" gubernatorial candidate exploit his sworn office as Attorney General to springboard into a Governor's election, I've had the displeasure of seeing first hand.
How's that? Different ring of truth when you apply real truth.
His Press Releases were rolling like thunder onto the campaign trail and like a true politician, a true expert in deceit, he rode that wave of misery into the governor's mansion using every victim, every defendant, to raise the ire of all who could and would not harm the elderly. All who would vote for someone ready to change the situation for the elderly.
This really conveys to those who are not yet shocked by the deeds done in this KVHD nightmare about how far reaching this con game goes.
Governor Jerry Brown used the office of the attorney general, a position of trust and truth, a position of responsibility, to build an illusion of caring for those who were harmed, justifying a visit to our friends at ABC World News tonight, and Diane Sawyer, in a well timed, well viewed, friendly "elder abuse" segment.
(I guess raising funds in the AG office is easier. He created himself a hero to the elderly in those early press releases. Then was aided with some FREE stuff from ABC news.)
Sawyer gave Brown some feel good editing, a few repugnant expressions for the camera, you almost believed these two really cared about those patients and their horrendous fate at KVHD.
What hurts is that there are still those who put their trust in both Sawyer and Brown.
Candidate and AG...
But Brown started campaigning for Governor long before he announced his plans, refusing to commit to his candidacy, and continuing to launch a political campaign inside the AG office with all it's resources and his secret "campaign contributor. "
Here on this blog, is my prediction at least six months in advance of his declaration to run for office, of the AG Brown's obvious "pre-campaign" activities. He certainly had a way of churning out the PR and creating himself in a certain light.
Later the LA Times and Sacramento Bee would question his use of the AG office as a springboard. But as is standard for those tied to the money, the political quote fest, they allowed the issue to go away. These gatekeepers decide who they will shut the gate on and it wasn't Jerry Brown.
However, any attempt to nail down this other Brown deception, could lead to "his" current AG having to raise at least an eyebrow if not a finger.
Who is in charge now...
Kamala Harris didn't make a stir about elder abuse, but she did benefit from Brown's hyperbole as KVHD the worst he has seen, as she rode along with the would be, could be, wanna be, on the campaign trail in 2010.
Well, she's our AG, the one who would be obligated to ignore her mentor, Governor Brown's slight digressions from the truth. I'm sure she's just brushing it off or walking it off...all that shame.
Harris, supposedly a hard core prosecutor, out for families, those who need justice, has sat quietly, not answering to the lowly types such as myself who continue to ask why?
Ducking and hiding wasn't too necessary as I've been busily pointing fingers on my own for a while now. Only recently has any other publication or media outlet even noticed anything.
PBS, is a place to find the story, but it's a story. Again, there is the truth as we experienced and witnessed it, and then there's the spin, those who use misery to gain attention themselves. Such as what PBS did in a upstaging fashion. Details on drugs as if the whole story was to be used at a medical convention.
AARP where are you?
I asked this question of the legal department of the AARP, which claims to be a significant benefactor for the aged and elderly.
The little communication I had with this massive corporate sell out of aged people everywhere, simply checked in to KVHD under Fire, lit up momentarily to apologize for not looking into the druggings, and then left off as I suggested they ask Kamala Harris what was happening with the case.
This is what they actually did. lol They looked, then called our current California AG and POOF, disappeared. So, I would not rely on their next "the best nursing home issue" of 2012 to be accurate and forthcoming.
AARP, may not stand for anything after all.
Dishonorable mention goes to...
While there is some speculation on my part that the presence of high powered attorneys Donald Etra and William Howard 'Ginsburg played a crucial role in obtaining these lackluster plea deals, and then to have them drop off the face of the earth, to be replaced by "public defenders" made this all the more madcap.
Etra a visitor to the George W. Bush Whitehouse, and Ginsburg attorney for Monica Lewinsky, whose chubby, child like, good looks were far too much for President Bill Clinton to resist, were here and then gone in the KVHD case. Though I must say it was a fun twist when I caught them all on video. (see youtube)
Pormir and Ott both have had financial help at the direction of several of the KVHD board of directors.
Hughes was never given monies for her criminal case. Nor any help with the civil cases either. But she sure looks like their target.
Donald Etra left the case, with no communication, and has not answered any further inquiries. Pormir's current "cheap legal guy" some sort of half legal clerk and half the price, Fred Gagliardini, has denied any potential plead outs was made prior to his services being sought as the defendants have been given the "below sticker" price deals thus far.
But Mr. Gagliardini, wants us to believe he himself was responsible for settling this elder abuse matter, no influence from the big time attorney's whatsoever.
I would tend to disagree.
Likely, the influence of the influential was just that. Etra and Ginsburg cared for no one. They were there flexing some muscle, and if I'm right, they loosened the lid A LOT for the public defenders to follow.
Final thoughts...
There is no way to take back the pain these people have caused, all of them. But rest assured none of this goes unchecked. None of this is okay, right, believable or worthy. And I was a witness to these events. I have researched, I have uncovered, questioned.
And the truth will always prevail. It's the only thing real about any of this...
Bakersfield Californian: http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x920646019/Doctor-gets-three-years-probation-in-patient-drugging-case?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tbc619+%28The+Bakersfield+Californian+--+Latest+News%29&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner
Monday, February 21, 2011
What's the bottom line: the Kern Valley Healthcare District blog
Kern Valley Health "scare" District...
In medicine, as in statecraft and propaganda, words are sometimes the most powerful drugs we can use- Dr. Sara Murray Jordan
Here I am pondering my relationship with the healthcare system, the labels, the diagnoses, the communication, the sad life altering mistakes, the hope that those who "care for us," assist us and take time to reach out to us, recognize their responsibility in the partnership.
I've taken up the quest on my side of the relationship to find out what has happened to me, my health, my responsibility, rather than to play the role of victim as if a doctor, practitioner will always reach the high standard we often revere or attribute to this profession.
Sadly we see so many in the role health practitioner as if it's a vocation, rather than an art, or a great business venture rather than a gift.
In the course of my life I've seen both sides, and that is why I am posting a comment that I will use as a springboard for further explanation.
Yes, I'm afraid the days of comments and roses are over on this blog, but the following comment caught my attention, and I would like to address it.
Oh for peat sakes Laura, do you never stop? Why don't you use all that
energy for good instead of bad? You knew that Doc Gross was only in it for the
money when he moved here, what changed? Did you really think he cared about this
valley or that he believed the medical oath meant anything to him except bucks?
Gosh, and of course David Derr is a "rubberstamp," the people in this valley
knew that he and Doc Gross were "kissee, kissee" and buddys but the
'Progressives" get out the vote, and the public will have to eat the "Gross
product" of medical care for a long time as a result of that, his "take" in the
issue "kickbacks" is minor now, wait until he controls all the seats of the
board!
Obviously the author of that quote doesn't care for me anymore than Dr. Gross our KVHD board member, and was taking a cheap shot at him, but the point I am making is in regard to the idea that I have used my energy for "bad purposes."
Us against them! The good guys and the bad guys! Cowboys and Indians...you get it...you were a child once.
I realized long ago, that there is good in everything bad, and some bad in everything good.
I've made note that I use words to express general ideas, logic, irony, and these petty little symbols are actually some awesome tools.
"A dose of adversity is often as needful as a dose of medicine"-proverb
The things I do and say I believe in. They mean something to me or I wouldn't take the time to write about it. There are a "gazillian" (the amount of the debt in California) things any of us could do, at any time, and we all have something to contribute, to serve.
People mean something to me, their feelings, their participation in the world, and community (I'm not much for factions), a better way of life is what I fight for.
Tiger Woods started playing golf when he was three. When I was three I was already debating with my parents, teachers, and the church. It's what I do. I picked up a club, I mean a pencil, (though I've learned it is a weapon and to wield wisely) and never stopped writing.
But it's why I do it, that is often misunderstood.
I remember the shock when this blog first appeared, the hyperbole, the satire, the rhetoric, it simply riled up the whole neighborhood. H.L. Mencken made a career of antagonizing...Voltaire was often found revolting...and my contribution was to take on what some still consider a blasphemous target: healthcare and healthcare providers.
It was two elderly women, spiritual by nature, and confused as to my tactics and antics who straightened some of this out for me.
"God makes people for certain things, and it sure seems like this is yours," one seasoned woman told me after she questioned my motives and naturally my humor.
Their questions and my openess about what and why I'm doing what I'm doing in regard to this hospital, became important information for me, as I found understanding.
I've never actually physically hurt them, but they sure have hit me
When I was 17 my family doctor was away, and his partner, a semi-retired gentleman, saw me for the flu or something of that nature. From that day on we were friends until he retired and even after that time.
I was young, confused, one day an existentialist, the next a guardian of religion, and often very bi-polar.
Dr. Herrick and I visited regularly, he listened to my interpretations of the books I read, and often told me he wished he had more time to read literature and mingle with philosophy, but medicine had taken up his whole life.
I would ask him questions about medicine, though his answers were often unexpected. He was a man who thought for himself. He was trained, but not glued to the absolutes we see so many doctors talking about today.
"Take this medicine twice a day and this will happen, you will be...happy."
When did medicine begin to dictate happiness? I don't know, but Dr. Herrick would never have accepted that idea nor would he ever have preached it. In fact, if he were alive today, he would be aghast at what is happening and what happened to me.
On a "dime" it all turned
Generally speaking when you're young you don't think of your health, it is self sustaining. Bruises go away, the skin knits itself, and you're back on the road to...death I guess. (sorry I've been morose lately)
Acceptance was not too much to expect, but my whole life changed on October 1, 1999, because I didn't know or was educated as to what a medication could potentially do to me?
I don't know, it seems it became my problem, as once the Gentamicin permanently damaged my inner ear, the people in healthcare were turning their backs, changing their stories, justifying something as simple as not warning me.
They were no longer people to trust: they were cowards.
I see people in the stores buying medicines for headaches, diarrhea, stomach aches, GAS, a whole variety for us to choose from, over the counter. We became our own doctors, and we don't even realize not one of these things is completely safe. Unfortunately, that small percentage, who could be any one of us at any time, may die from some of these remedies, or like me, become permanently damaged and changed.
I've never seen the world the same way again, as my vision changed, my balance was gone, my whole life I had created was gone...that fast. I worked with no help, as I had been abandoned as a mistake healthcare providers prefer to avoid and move on with their lives.
There were people there, they were my family and their children. They saw what could happen with open eyes, to any of us. I couldn't walk five feet without falling. I couldn't see without holding my head completely still. The route from my bedroom to the bathroom was a series of things to grab onto: the door frame, kitchen counter, couch, baby swing, door frame, open door...find the toilet.
I really didn't think I could live like that. They have recently begun to study at least some sort of rehabilitation for this type of injury, but when it happened to me, it was "have a nice life."
It was work
I worked my ass "on" to build weight and muscle, and after a year, I dug a garden, watched the baby learn to walk while I was learning to walk, and began juicing, Jack LaLane style. Twice a day, one veggie and one fruit. Another year passed and I built an addition on my bedroom. The kids were now officially under Aunt Laura's care for some long, but wonderful days. I knew I had to have muscle as it was the balance system I have left after the inner ear stopped functioning. I cannot even get dizzy...which is a good thing mostly.
After three years, I felt that I would be able to contribute more and retrain, not necessarily regain, some of my former life. I learned to catch a ball again. The kids taught me, and laughed as it would sometimes hit me in the face or knock my glasses off my head.
Then along came a spider...Grave's disease. It began stripping me of my muscle and strength and the falls came more often, as they sometimes call this balance disorder, the "falling disorder." I learned as I had already predicted that if anything else happened to me, losing my muscle, a leg or some injury setting off my balance, I would be screwed: I hate it when I'm right.
Now I could not put my family through another round, and truthfully, I was afraid.
Fear of doctors and medicine
After a fairly decent life of health and a sudden challenge, came a disorder or series of problems which would keep me occupied with doctors and hospitals here in the Kern River Valley for the last seven years.
When I arrived I had lost almost 40 pounds, my hair was coming out by the handfuls, my hands shook so badly I couldn't grasp with any acuity.
But guess what? I sure as hell wasn't going to see a doctor. That was simply out of the question after what I had witnessed and endured. I was labeled, incriminated, and sure not ready to start again.
My neighbor made me do it
I suppose he got tired of taking out my trash as I would huff and puff trying to carry anything with my new "skinny" arms so he finally gave me the name of our KVHD Rural Health clinic doctor.
At first it was easy, I walked in, took a blood test and was told I had Grave's disease or an autoimmune disorder which effects the endocrine system, thyroid mostly, but eyes, and adrenals as well.
The first shot and we had a diagnosis, yippee!
Then mistake number one I have learned: don't take any medicine you don't have to REALLY, REALLY take. Now at the time I had insomnia to the point I was never sure if I slept, it was usually, kind of shut down for a minute or two and back up. I was problematic to say the least.
So, my doctor and "yours" has the idea that I need some medicine, and truthfully it would be two months later the FDA recognized that you don't use SSRI antidepressants on a bi-polar because as we now know, even a small amount can cause a crisis. Yes, a dribble of prozac and I was a singer and dancer the next morning.
It took six months to wear off, but during that time, we needed medicine to deal with the side effects of the original medicine.
Then we had more problems as my doctor had struck gold on our first meeting, we were now over a year, and I wasn't better, I was worse. I was his failure. So, the next issue is to talk about a radical idea: remove a part.
Lesson two: Don't let them remove anything you don't know about.
Though an endocrinologist in Bakersfield didn't believe I needed my thryoid irradiated, he was sure I was simply crazy, my doctor pressured me as did others I might add, to have the thing obliterated. "It will be easier to control," he told me.
It never was or has been. But we went through with it anyway. As things kept breaking and new medicines were needed, I started to think maybe it wasn't the thyroid causing the symptoms as the thyroid was gone. Was it the medications?
I need a veterinarian
My parrot has a great doctor and she doesn't even have to tell him anything or fill out forms. Her doctor actually saved me at one point after the thyroid slipped way out of whack, (yet it was my problem as I didn't know I was supposed to have gone to medical school at some point) when he mentioned my lethargy. I returned to the "human" doctor to find we had let the level of thyroid decrease to a 50, that's not .5 or 5, which would be normal, I mean 50. Thank God for veterinarians.
Though I had one good year, with some odd symptoms, but I had gained some weight, was able to at least do some writing for the local poison pen paper, and thought I had met some good people at our local hospital.
Our former CEO, Pam Ott, had me at her service, I was here to help healthcare. I did all I could to write the hospital on the front page, and get stories out there. But I also had a second job, getting a General obligation bond for the district. No Problemo!
It was all a delusion
I kept telling myself and my family that my doctor is overworked that's why they haven't figured out my odd symptoms, a rash that developed on my neck in 2006, which came along with another round of weight loss, and that specific symptom called "general malaise."
So, my doctor needed more help and a new hospital and building, and I was going to get it for us all.
There was not a part of me looking at all for anything wrong, in fact, it felt good to help a system that had permanently damaged me in the first place. I thought I was righting a wrong.
I campaigned for Measure M. I fought the naysayers, used my logic against all such as our board member and Doctor, Gross, as well as Robert and Kay Knight. Pam Ott, Bob Jamison, Brad Armstrong, Barbara Casas, all had me convinced these people were in the way of progress.
Not noting anything negative, forgiving the slights of my doctor, a very bad experience in the ER, didn't stop me, I fought for Measure M: and lost. We all looked at our computers the day after the election to find we were less than 100 votes from success. I was shocked. All the hope I had for the community and hospital, so close, but yet...Thank you GOD!
How did that happen?
That happened because I was not looking both ways when I crossed the street and I was hit by a bus...figuratively. I found out the CEO was hiding a nursing center full of horrors and cruelty. Not simple chemical restraining: but the CFO had cut the work force and as the nursing center slid into decay, the families were not being told of this new way of life at the hospital. Save money on staff, spend a little more on drugs.
I guess you don't have to imagine what I did in response, as we are still here, and there is still a trial in Kern County Court scheduled, and there are lives that will never be the same: and a hospital full of shame.
So, question for the writer of the comment above: why then when I did nothing but try to help this hospital, dumbed down for the experience, did it end up with people being hurt and taken?
The CEO didn't have the qualifications: she had a "diploma mill" resume. Who hired her?
If I was not so eager to help us all, and believe others had those same ideals, I would have seen what was obvious as it is now, that there are those who are simply helping themselves.
They seem to be fine with it. I'm not, but they seem to be.
I asked for help from our newest CEO and board member doctor
Almost a month ago I wrote a blog when I returned home from the hospital, scared and impaired, my health foresaken, my faith shaken, (I have that rhyming disorder) and now I am back to where I started.
Doctors and administrators no way are they going to take any responsibility for my health. I wrote to Tim McGlew like everyone does when they have a problem and need to feel safe again, and asked why I couldn't get help in the ER. He promised to look into it, that was November.
In December, for Christmas, I fainted as I had been to Sienna Wellness, the Gross establishment, time and again for three months asking for help with a gastric problem. My insurance paid to have them tell me to use 7up and milk. I kept telling them each VISIT, that my mouth is burned. Nothing. (I couldn't produce enough flames for them at that point. I guess they need to see the fire rather than find a reason for the smoke)
I was in the ER at least three times explaining the problem, then I had a "whatever episode" I get, which I fortunately hadn't had since Memorial day. Now I get the treatment from the ER: "Drug seeker."
If only logic applied as I have drugs at home because that's the only thing they can do. I wanted to know what the problem was as I was and am still losing weight.
No action from the CEO
McGlew apparently did nothing as each time I returned to the ER the treatment was worse and more demoralizing. And I got the luxury of knowing it wasn't just happening to me.
As two kids had committed suicide a doctor was yelling at a young one in the ER about using drugs. Not in a helpful manner such as, "do you need some help," but in a destructive manner, as "you're beyond help."
A 70 year old woman was put out on the black chairs in the ER waiting room Christmas night by Roy and Terry the compassionate nurses from hell. I was given some "different" drugs as Terry wouldn't tell me what I was given, she said it was "doctor's orders." I made sure to shuffle out and give this woman my number. But it was Christmas, and even on such a day, there was no compassion for anyone.
I was the only person in the ER left, why couldn't that woman have been kept warm and comfortable?
Then it was 1/20
I put my dog in the car and felt weak as I was going to get a cup of coffee. So, I stopped by the ER. I'll never be the same.
As the story goes it would have been far less damaging to have gone and just got that cup of coffee so I could finish my work. Instead, I was injured in every sector, but mostly because nobody seems to realize this place is dangerous....
THE NEXT TIME IT COULD BE YOU
McGlew offered no support, nor did Dr. Gross, nor did my PA Jim Gutzman. Instead after a trauma which remains, I'm seeing the same behavior again that I saw with Ott, and during my Gentamicin damage: no responsibility, lots of cruelty.
I don't want it to be you or your mother or father or child.
The hospital is not safe or sane.
(If you can believe the irony, I was told by somebody who obviously hadn't heard about this blog or me, "Never go to that hospital. How long have you been up here, don't you know that?" I stood shocked.)
All I can do is warn you, and I will continue to warn you while I find out exactly what has happened to me and then we will deal with that situation.
I've been out of the house only a few times since the visit to the hospital, but the one time I managed to get to the store, I heard a story...I thought "oh no," as the woman told the tale of her mother being discharged from the ER, told she was fine, only to have her in the ER waiting room the next day.
I stirred my coffee and listened as she was saying her mother had to come back and was left in the ER waiting room damaged more than the day before.
She said she called an ambulance. I laughed, as this was a person who wasn't going to take this with a grain of salt. The ambulance drivers were probably surprised to find they were being sent to the KVHD ER waiting room.
I interrupted to give her my name and number as is my practice, and she said I'll be talking with that guy, "Mglew or something" she said as if she meant business.
Gosh, I wonder what happened?
"None loves the messenger who brings bad news."-Sophocles
Friday, July 16, 2010
KVHD not only hospital "waivering": Sierra Kings gets an offer
Fresno Bee following Sierra Kings story
At the Kern Valley Healthcare District July board meeting, notably missing on the agenda was a board vote to ask the residents of the Kern River Valley if they are willing to put up property tax money in the form of a General Obligation bond to help the hospital financially and to improve the building.
When the board and CEO, Tim McGlew, were asked if there had been other considerations as to solving the on going financial problems the answer was "no."
The hospital CEO, Chet Beedle, told an audience of concerned citizens who would be footing the bill that the insurer of the revenue bonds (something like a "savings bond" in the sense you cannot bankrupt on it as it is covered by the "good faith" of the state of California) has given them a "waiver."
No explanation or follow up questions that night, but in a response from the insurer, the claim of a "waiver" was not verified and even questioned what Beedle meant by this statement.
Does anyone know here in the valley? The Kern Valley Sun didn't report it.
They are and have been in default. This is no longer "technical default" it is a "their fault."
How you spend your money is your business. How the hospital spends our money is now our business. I'm very much for helping anyone or anything which wishes to help itself. But if you read this blog you will find more than a year and half ago, I warned we were going down.
A meeting was arranged with the insurer and a local representative to discuss options and try to solve the problem, but somehow it got cancelled. From that point on it has all been about how the government is the problem, the community charity cases, the retail pharmacy, the Medicare reimbursement, etc.
If this GOB idea had been researched and found to be the only solution, we could have had this on this ballot in November, (free of charge) but as usual with the hospital, they either hide their mistakes or they blame it on somebody or something. Now they not only want our tax dollars, but want us to "pay" for their own election this next year, which would cost an extra $50,000 at least.
(think of $50,000 as four full time nurse's aides, two LVN's, or even an RN or even a financial strategical coordinator)
Beedle, the financial manager, being paid good money to be in charge of our finances, tried to con the audience about the collections problems which have gone on for years. But this is what he's paid for. His response was absolutely ludicrous.
With people receiving billings for $8 from three years ago, and an audience member who got a bill for a "co-payment" from over a year ago, Beedle, said he was trying to "help the community." (I guess he gave us a waiver?)
By what? Not billing but asking for us to engage in a 30 year general obligation bond contract which would raise our property taxes and the businesses who hardly thrive here would have to get out their price taggers and begin the hike which could run off people already struggling financially.
Are there other options like possibly having a different owner or financial manager?
Of course.
Have we talked about it?
Of course not. (why will come later)
Bankruptcy at Sierra Kings hospital, now they have a possible solution?
After the KVHD nursing center "system's failure" (failure to hire qualified individuals and those who would tell the truth to keep our community safe) the CEO, Pam Ott, skated out of here faster than a Russian ice show, up to Sierra Kings District Hospital in Reedley, California, outside of Fresno in 2007.
Last year shortly after Ott was standing in court charged with elder abuse, the Sierra Kings District Hospital went into bankruptcy.
HFS, a hospital financial consultant, took the reins and after turning over all the stones, allegedly found that our former CEO, Ott, had been able to get to the GOB monies the citizens of Reedley had voted in for a hospital expansion. (how it was spent is still a mystery, for now)
It was also reported in the Fresno Bee and the Reedley Exponent that Ott was not paying the employee pension correctly and the IRS showed up at the front door demanding answers.
However, this city of Reedley, has tried in every way to help it's hospital. We have seen pictures of protesters with signs, the city loaned the hospital money to help with a possible solution which didn't pan out, but people were involved.
These same people now want answers about Ott and how she got there. (Ask Bob Jamison and Brad Armstrong, KVHD board members, if you want to know more citizens of Reedley)
Now Sierra Kings District, it is being reported in the Fresno Bee, is getting an offer from Adventist Health Central Valley network to take over the hospital.
A new idea, and one of many.
What will happen is not yet known, but what we can gain from this story is how other hospitals have been approaching there own financial problems in this failing economy.
The reason Sierra Kings is so interesting and so like our hospital, is that Pam Ott ran both these hospitals, and both are now drowning in a financial morass.
Here's the link to the Bee article.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/13/2005427/adventist-reaches-out-to-bankrupt.html
And I apologize for the delay in the hospital meeting story as the flu has gotten a hold of me and the heat is not helping. More soon, pictures and videos.
At the Kern Valley Healthcare District July board meeting, notably missing on the agenda was a board vote to ask the residents of the Kern River Valley if they are willing to put up property tax money in the form of a General Obligation bond to help the hospital financially and to improve the building.
When the board and CEO, Tim McGlew, were asked if there had been other considerations as to solving the on going financial problems the answer was "no."
The hospital CEO, Chet Beedle, told an audience of concerned citizens who would be footing the bill that the insurer of the revenue bonds (something like a "savings bond" in the sense you cannot bankrupt on it as it is covered by the "good faith" of the state of California) has given them a "waiver."
No explanation or follow up questions that night, but in a response from the insurer, the claim of a "waiver" was not verified and even questioned what Beedle meant by this statement.
Does anyone know here in the valley? The Kern Valley Sun didn't report it.
They are and have been in default. This is no longer "technical default" it is a "their fault."
How you spend your money is your business. How the hospital spends our money is now our business. I'm very much for helping anyone or anything which wishes to help itself. But if you read this blog you will find more than a year and half ago, I warned we were going down.
A meeting was arranged with the insurer and a local representative to discuss options and try to solve the problem, but somehow it got cancelled. From that point on it has all been about how the government is the problem, the community charity cases, the retail pharmacy, the Medicare reimbursement, etc.
If this GOB idea had been researched and found to be the only solution, we could have had this on this ballot in November, (free of charge) but as usual with the hospital, they either hide their mistakes or they blame it on somebody or something. Now they not only want our tax dollars, but want us to "pay" for their own election this next year, which would cost an extra $50,000 at least.
(think of $50,000 as four full time nurse's aides, two LVN's, or even an RN or even a financial strategical coordinator)
Beedle, the financial manager, being paid good money to be in charge of our finances, tried to con the audience about the collections problems which have gone on for years. But this is what he's paid for. His response was absolutely ludicrous.
With people receiving billings for $8 from three years ago, and an audience member who got a bill for a "co-payment" from over a year ago, Beedle, said he was trying to "help the community." (I guess he gave us a waiver?)
By what? Not billing but asking for us to engage in a 30 year general obligation bond contract which would raise our property taxes and the businesses who hardly thrive here would have to get out their price taggers and begin the hike which could run off people already struggling financially.
Are there other options like possibly having a different owner or financial manager?
Of course.
Have we talked about it?
Of course not. (why will come later)
Bankruptcy at Sierra Kings hospital, now they have a possible solution?
After the KVHD nursing center "system's failure" (failure to hire qualified individuals and those who would tell the truth to keep our community safe) the CEO, Pam Ott, skated out of here faster than a Russian ice show, up to Sierra Kings District Hospital in Reedley, California, outside of Fresno in 2007.
Last year shortly after Ott was standing in court charged with elder abuse, the Sierra Kings District Hospital went into bankruptcy.
HFS, a hospital financial consultant, took the reins and after turning over all the stones, allegedly found that our former CEO, Ott, had been able to get to the GOB monies the citizens of Reedley had voted in for a hospital expansion. (how it was spent is still a mystery, for now)
It was also reported in the Fresno Bee and the Reedley Exponent that Ott was not paying the employee pension correctly and the IRS showed up at the front door demanding answers.
However, this city of Reedley, has tried in every way to help it's hospital. We have seen pictures of protesters with signs, the city loaned the hospital money to help with a possible solution which didn't pan out, but people were involved.
These same people now want answers about Ott and how she got there. (Ask Bob Jamison and Brad Armstrong, KVHD board members, if you want to know more citizens of Reedley)
Now Sierra Kings District, it is being reported in the Fresno Bee, is getting an offer from Adventist Health Central Valley network to take over the hospital.
A new idea, and one of many.
What will happen is not yet known, but what we can gain from this story is how other hospitals have been approaching there own financial problems in this failing economy.
The reason Sierra Kings is so interesting and so like our hospital, is that Pam Ott ran both these hospitals, and both are now drowning in a financial morass.
Here's the link to the Bee article.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/13/2005427/adventist-reaches-out-to-bankrupt.html
And I apologize for the delay in the hospital meeting story as the flu has gotten a hold of me and the heat is not helping. More soon, pictures and videos.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
We decided we want "real" justice and we won't take anything less
As I've spent most of the day on the phone speaking with people who had family in the Kern Valley Healthcare District skilled nursing facility during the 2006/07 era, it became very clear that these people want their justice: but not just in civil court, they want criminal indictments.
I heard and felt their pain today, the frustration, the indignity they received at the hands of the hospital along with their loved ones.
Oh, you'd think KVHD would have been smarter than to continue to aggravate people who, in some cases, watched their mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers die in a climate of uncertain circumstances, but in some cases they were also re-victimized by being treated like they were "ordinary complainers."
Much like KVHD did with the employees they held at such a lowly level as to threaten, blame or terminate, they also did some really hideous things to the families who had concerns.
Some of these families are ready to fight: fight the state to bring in all the people on top that let this happen. And let me tell you, they know your names.
A few of the residents who died, passed away after employees came to the chairman of the board at the time, Brad Armstrong, and tried to warn him of serious problems. They did that because the chain of command had problems. Armstrong sent them packing with an admonishment.
Well, Mr. Armstrong, maybe had you acted like a chairman, or even a human, you would have taken the warning seriously: and you may have saved lives. But you didn't act.
The second chance came in the first week of January 2007, when nurses were alarmed and calling for help. But again, no help arrived. And the pernicious practices continued.
Mr. Fong, I do understand there is a lot of material, a lot of witnesses, and maybe a shortage of manpower at the Department of Justice. But if you cannot supply the proper amount of people to do the job, you are short staffed. And indicting a hospital for short staffing when the agency itself cannot operate to "justice type efficiency," then it becomes quite hypocritical.
We need you to make them answer to this. Mr. Fong I was told today by one of the families, that they tried to contact you. Remember many of these people witnessed the decline of their loved one, along with fishy medical records.
They want to tell their story. They need to tell their story to heal. Please listen to them, even if it takes time. Bring in other investigators, (not traveling or registry that will definitely cost you too much) do what needs to be done.
This case cannot be investigated with tweezers, you need a big broom. There's people still at KVHD who disgustingly remain and have allowed huge raises to former CEO's, bad investigations on employees, and continued to short staff and deny it.
Let's look at short staffing. Short staffing was a main issue with the skilled nursing facility, as the nursing center could not ever make the money necessary to pay the debt which was incurred in the botched construction project. So, it wasn't for the convenience of the staff as said in the indictments, it was because the administration didn't have to pay to fully staff. It was for their convience if it was for any reason.
I've thought, if you're short staffed, what if there's an emergency? Could that staff get out all those residents before, say a fire spread from the kitchen right next door? It takes over an hour just to get the residents ready for their meals. So, how would you possibly get them out? Just a thought.
I spoke to a woman today who told me her story in detail. I learned that she and her family tried to tell the CEO, Pam Ott, about the problems long before it became clear, but again were told things like "staff would never do that."
But they also went to the state. Yes, Mr. Fong and Mr. Brown, there were complaints from families to the Ombudsman, Department of Health services, and others, but the government didn't catch it either. Nurses called the state beginning in 2006, where are those records. The oversight also let us down. (Big surprise)
At the end of the conversation with this very sweet woman, we talked about my role in all of this. She said, "sometimes God makes people for certain purposes, and this seems to be yours."
I couldn't agree with her more and I thank her for making me feel understood.
So, we're going to fight to get this resolved so that it will not happen again and in memory of anyone who suffered because of it. We have a new administration at the hospital, but with rotten apples running amok like zombies from the past, we need this place swept out, and we have all the information and witnesses to do it.
Please understand that we are not going to be appeased. We want certain things to happen and all witnesses need to be heard.
Ready or not, here we come...
Answer to question: the defendants have the same court case number.
I heard and felt their pain today, the frustration, the indignity they received at the hands of the hospital along with their loved ones.
Oh, you'd think KVHD would have been smarter than to continue to aggravate people who, in some cases, watched their mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers die in a climate of uncertain circumstances, but in some cases they were also re-victimized by being treated like they were "ordinary complainers."
Much like KVHD did with the employees they held at such a lowly level as to threaten, blame or terminate, they also did some really hideous things to the families who had concerns.
Some of these families are ready to fight: fight the state to bring in all the people on top that let this happen. And let me tell you, they know your names.
A few of the residents who died, passed away after employees came to the chairman of the board at the time, Brad Armstrong, and tried to warn him of serious problems. They did that because the chain of command had problems. Armstrong sent them packing with an admonishment.
Well, Mr. Armstrong, maybe had you acted like a chairman, or even a human, you would have taken the warning seriously: and you may have saved lives. But you didn't act.
The second chance came in the first week of January 2007, when nurses were alarmed and calling for help. But again, no help arrived. And the pernicious practices continued.
Mr. Fong, I do understand there is a lot of material, a lot of witnesses, and maybe a shortage of manpower at the Department of Justice. But if you cannot supply the proper amount of people to do the job, you are short staffed. And indicting a hospital for short staffing when the agency itself cannot operate to "justice type efficiency," then it becomes quite hypocritical.
We need you to make them answer to this. Mr. Fong I was told today by one of the families, that they tried to contact you. Remember many of these people witnessed the decline of their loved one, along with fishy medical records.
They want to tell their story. They need to tell their story to heal. Please listen to them, even if it takes time. Bring in other investigators, (not traveling or registry that will definitely cost you too much) do what needs to be done.
This case cannot be investigated with tweezers, you need a big broom. There's people still at KVHD who disgustingly remain and have allowed huge raises to former CEO's, bad investigations on employees, and continued to short staff and deny it.
Let's look at short staffing. Short staffing was a main issue with the skilled nursing facility, as the nursing center could not ever make the money necessary to pay the debt which was incurred in the botched construction project. So, it wasn't for the convenience of the staff as said in the indictments, it was because the administration didn't have to pay to fully staff. It was for their convience if it was for any reason.
I've thought, if you're short staffed, what if there's an emergency? Could that staff get out all those residents before, say a fire spread from the kitchen right next door? It takes over an hour just to get the residents ready for their meals. So, how would you possibly get them out? Just a thought.
I spoke to a woman today who told me her story in detail. I learned that she and her family tried to tell the CEO, Pam Ott, about the problems long before it became clear, but again were told things like "staff would never do that."
But they also went to the state. Yes, Mr. Fong and Mr. Brown, there were complaints from families to the Ombudsman, Department of Health services, and others, but the government didn't catch it either. Nurses called the state beginning in 2006, where are those records. The oversight also let us down. (Big surprise)
At the end of the conversation with this very sweet woman, we talked about my role in all of this. She said, "sometimes God makes people for certain purposes, and this seems to be yours."
I couldn't agree with her more and I thank her for making me feel understood.
So, we're going to fight to get this resolved so that it will not happen again and in memory of anyone who suffered because of it. We have a new administration at the hospital, but with rotten apples running amok like zombies from the past, we need this place swept out, and we have all the information and witnesses to do it.
Please understand that we are not going to be appeased. We want certain things to happen and all witnesses need to be heard.
Ready or not, here we come...
Answer to question: the defendants have the same court case number.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Two pharmaceutical companies facing charges of supporting off label prescribing: for the elderly
(review the case is a week away now)
Less than two months away from the elder abuse criminal case against three Kern Valley Healthcare District employees, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., "Jerry Brown" announced just today that California is part of a 520 million dollar settlement against a London based company for promoting off label use of "Seroquel" an anti-psychotic drug, in the elderly with dementia and Alzheimers.
AstraZeneca is accused of encouraging the use of these antipsychotics in the aged and elderly, not approved by the FDA. The years that these practices were supposedly in effect were from 2001 to 2006.
(Gee, that 2006 number certainly stands out, as the KVHD elder abuse case revolves around the use of antipsychotics on it's elderly patients which may have lead to an increase morbidity rate.)
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Abbott Laboratories was doing the same thing with it's liver munching, all around player, Depakote. The use of this drug in the elderly is not approved by the FDA and off label prescribing was encouraged, say federal officials who are on this case.
The timing couldn't be better for a defense
With two large companies under the microscope right now for promoting the utilization of antipsychotics like risperdal, Seroquel, Depakote, for use on combative elderly patients, as these are used more for mood adjustments.
But the side effects are great and the older the person the more likely damage could occur and many safeguards would have to be put in place to ensure the drugs were monitored.
As we know the nursing home business isn't making people rich, and some are barely staffed, so many short cuts are taken to provide care even though the laws state that such treatment is both lacking in dignity and sometimes harmful.
Putting patients who are active, yet not quite coherent, on antipsychotics is called chemical restraining. This is used in the cases of certain classifications of mental illness, they are the very same drugs said to treat everybody. (party drugs?)
This is why the Kern River Valley Hospital has a few dates in the Kern County court, and the preliminary hearing will be coming up on June 23, and the judge will decide if the Department of justice has done it's job and proven such abuse.
But it's not only prosecutors looking at this case, it's the defense, and the families, and certainly the liability company for the hospital.
Whose fault is it anyway? Could a couple good attorneys prove that considering the drug companies were out there promoting the use of these drugs in the elderly, maybe Dr. Pormir was listening, and considering it might be a good idea.
These drugs could possibly make some of these residents tortured in mind and body, feel better. What is wrong with that?
Only one thing: The FDA didn't approve it. So the doctor is risking his own judgment on these drugs. But again these companies may provide a discount as the use of these drugs could in some ways be considered a "test subject group" maybe?
Who is the cause of what happened or do we really even know what happened here at our skilled nursing facility. We do know as a fact, they were short staffed. We do know a year before the chemical restraining occurred, a Director of Nursing, Todd Elkins, left employment over short staffing and pay cuts.
It is not confirmed, but Elkins supposedly works for the agency, Public Health, which surveys these nursing homes to make sure they are following the laws.
And we know there was a lack of ability on the part of the hospital CEO, Pam Ott, to be able to knowledgeably watch over and make sure things were done correctly as she had no credentials that weren't purchased on the back of a pack of matches.
Nurses complained, people were afraid to lose their jobs, but a new way of dealing with patients came about in August of 2006. The use of Depakote, Seroquel, Risperdal, as well as other antidepressants and antipsychotics. The new KVHD nursing center practice.
Who is really responsible?
There are so many people you could point fingers at in this case, but I think we will see them pointed toward pharmaceutical companies as well as possibly the only one that could be prosecuted, the leader who knew there were issues with the drugs, but did nothing to stop it: Pam Ott.
The rest are all contributors, well, except for the board of directors who had the information. Only two took action, the rest hid the truth from the community until today. They would be good for obstruction charges.
Nurses who had careers and plans for retirement found their lives spinning and they found they were doing things they didn't want to do.
But attorney's make all the difference
Defendants Ott and Gwen Hughes have a couple local lawyers from Bakersfield, defending them in the criminal matter, and then there is the long story about how the civil cases are being paid for. Don't ask just vote yes on a multi million dollar bond for the hospital as they are not very good at budgeting, just short staffing.
Enter Donald Etra successful lawyer with Ralph Nader for many years. He stepped into the drama in March when the case was postponed until June so the new attorney for Dr. Pormir could gather up the evidence and decide on a defense.
I had wondered where Etra came from so suddenly and then I heard that Pormir also got another attorney, a pal from college, William Howard Ginsburg, to take on his case with the state medical board.
Dr. Pormir would protect her
In the two years I knew Dr. Pormir he believed strongly in Pam Ott's constant carrot dangling of a new hospital and ER. He backed what she said and did in regards to the 2006 bond measure "m" for... you fill in the blanks.
I do not believe he will tell the authorities all he knows about her and what she did in response to the disaster which took place under her leadership. With questionable deaths, the mistreatment of families with relatives living in the nursing center, Ott needed to be brought out into the sunshine, but was stopped by friends, like Dr. Pormir, radio jock Bob Jamison, and Brad Armstrong.
How strong is the DOJ?
How strong is Jerry Brown and his organization up the state? I get these press releases and white collar crime pays, as he has made some money for the office.
What has he done to foster a sense of justice to the people of this state? Did the Anna Nicole Smith prosecution make any of you feel proud to be an American?
I can tell you the state has missed many good witnesses and found some pleasure in making up their own story in this case.
How will they do against Donald Etra and William Ginsburg though?
Ginsburg hit the limelight when he became Monica Lewinsky's attorney, as the whole country was wrapped around this warped political attack led by a better known attorney, Kenneth Starr.
I was told Pormir went to school with Ginsburg, but that would be odd as one is an attorney and another did much of his medical schooling in his home country of Iran.
Pormir will never testify and he will not rat out Ott either. He will likely with two attorneys on his arms, walk away unscathed.
Many families who lost a member to the KVHD nursing center, will not be happy to hear of recent developments.
And the civil cases are on hold until the court decides if the state has enough evidence to prosecute.
Ott never even was put in jail, as the others were, and she didn't get any bail either. The judge didn't see her as threatening. Ott had that charm at one time and lauded it over this community only to poison us all.
My predictions: the psychic reporter
Both Dr. Pormir and Gwen Hughes are slapped on the wrist, with Hughes getting a few lesser charges and Pormir just promising to be good.
Ott is the wild card. She is the main reason this case should have taken place. Along with several people who aided and abetted her, including the local radio station.
But I see a defense from the two cases cited above. And so do Donald and Bill.
Justice will likely turn into "just us" again
The people that tried to stop this were hurt over and over again, the family members, I apologize that there couldn't have been a better system in place who cared about the elderly and infirm: but there isn't.
The attorney general slash governor to be, will walk away from us as if we never existed, and then sleep at night with the help of some off label barbiturate prescription.
And fired employees, reputations lost, will try to scratch this off their resume and get employed somewhere where nobody knows about what happened here in the Kern River Valley. Our dirty little secrets...
Press control and click on link to open:
http://www.kern.courts.ca.gov/home.aspx
Less than two months away from the elder abuse criminal case against three Kern Valley Healthcare District employees, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., "Jerry Brown" announced just today that California is part of a 520 million dollar settlement against a London based company for promoting off label use of "Seroquel" an anti-psychotic drug, in the elderly with dementia and Alzheimers.
AstraZeneca is accused of encouraging the use of these antipsychotics in the aged and elderly, not approved by the FDA. The years that these practices were supposedly in effect were from 2001 to 2006.
(Gee, that 2006 number certainly stands out, as the KVHD elder abuse case revolves around the use of antipsychotics on it's elderly patients which may have lead to an increase morbidity rate.)
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Abbott Laboratories was doing the same thing with it's liver munching, all around player, Depakote. The use of this drug in the elderly is not approved by the FDA and off label prescribing was encouraged, say federal officials who are on this case.
The timing couldn't be better for a defense
With two large companies under the microscope right now for promoting the utilization of antipsychotics like risperdal, Seroquel, Depakote, for use on combative elderly patients, as these are used more for mood adjustments.
But the side effects are great and the older the person the more likely damage could occur and many safeguards would have to be put in place to ensure the drugs were monitored.
As we know the nursing home business isn't making people rich, and some are barely staffed, so many short cuts are taken to provide care even though the laws state that such treatment is both lacking in dignity and sometimes harmful.
Putting patients who are active, yet not quite coherent, on antipsychotics is called chemical restraining. This is used in the cases of certain classifications of mental illness, they are the very same drugs said to treat everybody. (party drugs?)
This is why the Kern River Valley Hospital has a few dates in the Kern County court, and the preliminary hearing will be coming up on June 23, and the judge will decide if the Department of justice has done it's job and proven such abuse.
But it's not only prosecutors looking at this case, it's the defense, and the families, and certainly the liability company for the hospital.
Whose fault is it anyway? Could a couple good attorneys prove that considering the drug companies were out there promoting the use of these drugs in the elderly, maybe Dr. Pormir was listening, and considering it might be a good idea.
These drugs could possibly make some of these residents tortured in mind and body, feel better. What is wrong with that?
Only one thing: The FDA didn't approve it. So the doctor is risking his own judgment on these drugs. But again these companies may provide a discount as the use of these drugs could in some ways be considered a "test subject group" maybe?
Who is the cause of what happened or do we really even know what happened here at our skilled nursing facility. We do know as a fact, they were short staffed. We do know a year before the chemical restraining occurred, a Director of Nursing, Todd Elkins, left employment over short staffing and pay cuts.
It is not confirmed, but Elkins supposedly works for the agency, Public Health, which surveys these nursing homes to make sure they are following the laws.
And we know there was a lack of ability on the part of the hospital CEO, Pam Ott, to be able to knowledgeably watch over and make sure things were done correctly as she had no credentials that weren't purchased on the back of a pack of matches.
Nurses complained, people were afraid to lose their jobs, but a new way of dealing with patients came about in August of 2006. The use of Depakote, Seroquel, Risperdal, as well as other antidepressants and antipsychotics. The new KVHD nursing center practice.
Who is really responsible?
There are so many people you could point fingers at in this case, but I think we will see them pointed toward pharmaceutical companies as well as possibly the only one that could be prosecuted, the leader who knew there were issues with the drugs, but did nothing to stop it: Pam Ott.
The rest are all contributors, well, except for the board of directors who had the information. Only two took action, the rest hid the truth from the community until today. They would be good for obstruction charges.
Nurses who had careers and plans for retirement found their lives spinning and they found they were doing things they didn't want to do.
But attorney's make all the difference
Defendants Ott and Gwen Hughes have a couple local lawyers from Bakersfield, defending them in the criminal matter, and then there is the long story about how the civil cases are being paid for. Don't ask just vote yes on a multi million dollar bond for the hospital as they are not very good at budgeting, just short staffing.
Enter Donald Etra successful lawyer with Ralph Nader for many years. He stepped into the drama in March when the case was postponed until June so the new attorney for Dr. Pormir could gather up the evidence and decide on a defense.
I had wondered where Etra came from so suddenly and then I heard that Pormir also got another attorney, a pal from college, William Howard Ginsburg, to take on his case with the state medical board.
Dr. Pormir would protect her
In the two years I knew Dr. Pormir he believed strongly in Pam Ott's constant carrot dangling of a new hospital and ER. He backed what she said and did in regards to the 2006 bond measure "m" for... you fill in the blanks.
I do not believe he will tell the authorities all he knows about her and what she did in response to the disaster which took place under her leadership. With questionable deaths, the mistreatment of families with relatives living in the nursing center, Ott needed to be brought out into the sunshine, but was stopped by friends, like Dr. Pormir, radio jock Bob Jamison, and Brad Armstrong.
How strong is the DOJ?
How strong is Jerry Brown and his organization up the state? I get these press releases and white collar crime pays, as he has made some money for the office.
What has he done to foster a sense of justice to the people of this state? Did the Anna Nicole Smith prosecution make any of you feel proud to be an American?
I can tell you the state has missed many good witnesses and found some pleasure in making up their own story in this case.
How will they do against Donald Etra and William Ginsburg though?
Ginsburg hit the limelight when he became Monica Lewinsky's attorney, as the whole country was wrapped around this warped political attack led by a better known attorney, Kenneth Starr.
I was told Pormir went to school with Ginsburg, but that would be odd as one is an attorney and another did much of his medical schooling in his home country of Iran.
Pormir will never testify and he will not rat out Ott either. He will likely with two attorneys on his arms, walk away unscathed.
Many families who lost a member to the KVHD nursing center, will not be happy to hear of recent developments.
And the civil cases are on hold until the court decides if the state has enough evidence to prosecute.
Ott never even was put in jail, as the others were, and she didn't get any bail either. The judge didn't see her as threatening. Ott had that charm at one time and lauded it over this community only to poison us all.
My predictions: the psychic reporter
Both Dr. Pormir and Gwen Hughes are slapped on the wrist, with Hughes getting a few lesser charges and Pormir just promising to be good.
Ott is the wild card. She is the main reason this case should have taken place. Along with several people who aided and abetted her, including the local radio station.
But I see a defense from the two cases cited above. And so do Donald and Bill.
Justice will likely turn into "just us" again
The people that tried to stop this were hurt over and over again, the family members, I apologize that there couldn't have been a better system in place who cared about the elderly and infirm: but there isn't.
The attorney general slash governor to be, will walk away from us as if we never existed, and then sleep at night with the help of some off label barbiturate prescription.
And fired employees, reputations lost, will try to scratch this off their resume and get employed somewhere where nobody knows about what happened here in the Kern River Valley. Our dirty little secrets...
Press control and click on link to open:
http://www.kern.courts.ca.gov/home.aspx
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