The Jamison media war: the blogger QAB/click on pix to open

Oh, the student surpasses the teacher. Yes, while I was trying to figure out a way to get out information regarding the Kern Valley Healthcare District, I came under fire, from KVHD board member, Bob Jamison.

He had a blog, thought hidden away on the "Best Country" website, but we were watching. My half brother's father passed away in 2007, but he had collected all of Jamison's blogs, and that was my part of the inheritance.

Here are some of the blogs put on his company website.

I have not been the only one slammed by Jamison and company, but there were other board members, such as Bob and Kay Knight, who saw nothing but greif as Jamison enjoyed bashing. (I personally don't like bashing, but sometimes its the only way to get things done)

Former candidate for the KVHD board, John Blythe, found himself spoken about on Jamison's show. An employee of the hospital, if you can believe this, was attacked personally by the bombastic, board members on his one man radio show.

But here are some of the blogs, click on them to enlarge and be able to read.

The disaster, the crimes, when does it end?

Bradley Armstrong, current Treasurer of the Kern Valley Healthcare District, sits in front of his computer deflecting all scrutiny of his activities within the district for more than 20 years. Brown Act violations, conflict of interest issues, bullying, and ignoring serious problems highlight his stay on the board of directors.

They worked together hiding their activities from the public, the employees, and other board members, and created the biggest disaster in the history of the Kern Valley healthcare district when idictments came down from the state Attorney General's office for elder abuse earlier this year.

The charges, stemming from an investigation during the time period between August 2006 and January 2007, were only against a long time doctor and pharmacist, and a director of nursing, who was hired and left during the same time frame. Others got away with their part in the downfall of the skilled nursing facility; and some are still here...

Bob Jamison, 2nd vice chair, still with the board of directors, spent much of his time at his radio job with QAB media protecting the truth about mismanagement and the rest of the time attacking employees along with anyone who questioned the former CEO, Pam Ott. Jamison was one of three board members, a quorum, who ran the hospital into the ground.

Jamison blogged on the QAB media, an ABC affiliate station, website creating a media war as the three board members and administrators were being scrutinized while investigators were roaming the nursing facility at the hospital. When CEO, Pam Ott, stepped down, May 2007, during the impending disaster, Jamison further aggravated the situation, by bringing Ott on the radio and allowing her an hour to defend and blame others for the problems.

The board of directors was lopsided, as Bradley Armstrong, Bob Jamison, and former member, Barabra Casas defied all laws surroung legislative bodies, the Brown Act, putting votes aside when one of the members was absent, thus losing their private quorum. They even went to the extent of canceling a meeting in April 2007 when the questions started coming about what the problems were with the hospital nursing facility.

Email from Barbara Casas RE: April 2007 meeting: Bob Jamison was elected to the office of First Vice President, which was his desire, so he could Chair Board Meetings if Brad had to be absent. Bob Jamison chose to not have the Board Meeting on Thursday as he was afraid that everything would be a 2 to 2 vote without a third positive vote from Brad who is Chair, and the third person to vote for anything positive.

....….Know this—If I was acting as First VP or Chair, I would have carried out meeting on schedule, I would have only tabled the action mentioned before the meeting—that could have been accomplished by a telephone vote of all Board Members—I would have chosen to go ahead and let them make fools of themselves, but then, that is me, and I “charge ahead”-----that is what I would have done!

Pamela Ott, former KVHD CEO, from 2003 until her resignation in 2007. Ott shown here at the South Fork Woman's Club attempting to get the organization to back a general obligation bond for 12.5 million to build a new wing on hospital. The bond was lost, but the building plans were never feasible anyway.

The former CEO spent most of 2006 dealing with the Department of Health Services as the Skilled Nursing facility was fined for noncompliance regarding physical restraints of residents. DHS requested that there be a full time Director of Nursing in the SNF, and though Ott, and then CNO, Sharon Brucker, stated compliance when they brought on a DON in March 2006, she lasted only a few weeks.

2006 documents

regarding the use of physical restraints. Ott, an RN, had little knowledge of long term care laws.

But as the district was trying to push its general obligation bond, Measure M, onto the November 2006 ballot, a new employee arrived who took over the skilled nursing facility as the director of nursing, Gwen Hughes.

Ott glowed about the acquisition of such a qualified manager, and reported in her September 2006 CEO board report that things were going well. At the time employees had already begun to make rumblings that trouble was in the SNF and the hospital. But Ott insisted things were "wonderful."

"Nursing Center Update: Things are going very well in the nursing center. We admitted six new residents in one week. The total census is 72. Our new director of Nursing, Gwen Hughes, is organizing, making appropriate changes, adjusting to her role and the staff really seem to be enjoying her leadership."

Then in Oct. 2006, employees came to a board meeting to let the directors and management that there were serious problems with staffing. Chairman, Bradley Armstrong instructed the speaker to go up the proper chain of command. Rather than see the situation as an alert that problems were afoot, Armstrong, reprimanded the employees.

Suddenly, in November 2006, a month later, the problem was investigated and resolved. All assertions made by the employees, the report says were not substantiated. A committee was formed to appease the group.

both of the employees who were in charge of the recruitment and retention committee are no longer employed with the hospital. One nurse was called "one of the best" by doctors and fellow staff.

By April 2007, then board Chairman, Bradley Armstrong, began refusing to answer questions regarding the skilled nursing facility or any short staffing suggestions.

That was the month he had to have the board meeting cancelled because he couldn't attend, suddenly. The meeting went April 16.

Brad Armstrong backed Pam Ott, as no questions were asked of her in a public forum, questions were deflected, and no accountability was offered.

Armstrong also strongly backed the architectural firm, Aspen Street Architects, the company owned by David Yarborough, as the hospital was working with Rural Health Design Network, owned by wife, Kathy Yarborough.

The plans produced for the concept modular building tied to Measure M, were faulty, yet because the district had a long relationship Aspen Street, already paying much money over the course of several years.

When the project went up for bid in March of 2007, (by law, projects costing more than 25K have to go up for bid) Armstrong, Jamison and Casas all voted for Aspen Street.

The other two board members, Robert and Kathryn Knight, picked another company after doing research and finding out about the cost overruns Aspen Street had been having on their other projects.

Barbara Casas said she wanted to go with Aspen Street after working with them for five years. Even after the renderings were made for the previous GOB, and they were faulty at a partial cost of $5000.

Chairman Armstrong only researched two of the three firms, and went with Aspen Street in spite of their previous errors. Partial records indicate Aspen Street Architects was paid more than $30K. Not clear what services were provided which were correct and finished.

The hospital has dropped it's contract with Aspen Street and denied for months knowledge the relationship between the architects and the other organization, Rural Health Design network.

Chet Beedle, Chief Financial Officer, contracted with two different management companies for the ailing nursing center. After minimum or short staffing, Beedle spent more than a million dollars to rehabilitate the SNF.

The board of directors signed off on the strategy which has cost the district dearly.

Chet Beedle, who pushed for Measure M, going on TV with Bob Jamison, selling the bonds without any true construction plan or detailed figure.

Beedle, who came to the district through a management company called BRIM, in 2001 as the controller, was then hired on as CFO.

The CFO worked closely with Armstrong, Jamison, Casas and Ott as they closed in on the bond meant to pay for a structure that was amorphous at that time, and still is not settled.

With the Knights disagreeing with the process, the group went about telling stories about the Knights which ranged from being thieves to walking the halls at night talking to employees.

Beedle targeted an employee he called a "Knight supporter" who said he didn't trust management and was not behind the bond which would have the community paying for the project with property taxes.

Email following a meeting in December 2006 regarding the Knights and an employee:

What I said was that Tom received double digit salary rate increases while most of the other employees' salaries were frozen. All of these salary increases were granted by Bob Knight. The actual history is al follows:
1) 9/28/97 - Annual increase of x%.
2) 12/1/97 - Special salary adjustment based upon survey of comparable positions - Increase of xxxx%.
3) 7/1/98 - Special salary adjustment for increased responsibility for Durable Medical Equipment - Increase of xx%.
4) 9/27/98 - Annual increase of xx%.
I am sending copies of the Personnel Action Forms signed by Bob Knight for these increases to Pam as per her request. I think this tells the story.

(Figures have been removed for privacy purposes.)

Mr. Beedle has firmly said that there are no billing problems at the hospital. And even after the end of the contract with EMCARE in 2006, the company he blamed for the overcharges, there were still complaints coming in.

One public comment stated that when he was dealing with the billing department he felt they were not up to speed on what everything was and that they always turn and talk to someone above them.

Other residents have claimed they still get bills over and above their own insurance, though Beedle denies having any complaints.

Currently, the board of directors consists of Kathryn Knight, chairwoman, Secretary, Victoria Alwin, 1st vice chair, Dr. Robert Gross, Bradley Armstrong, Treasurer, and Bob Jamison, 2nd vice chair.

A new CEO, Tim McGlew, has recently joined the district and will be attending his first board meeting this week, July 1, at 5:30 pm in the hospital cafeteria.

Even with evidence that there were leadership problems, board members voting together and violating laws to make sure they had the vote, personnel records revealed, slanderous statements about board members and employees, there has been little recourse or action by any oversight agency.

Currently, Armstrong and Jamison have been subversive in their activities trying to blame other board members for mistakes, yet neither of them has yet to even take responsibility for their own actions. But two people who have served the district are now in criminal court, Dr. Pormir and Debbi Hayes. And the hospital insurance company has denied that they have to pay for their defense.

Armstrong seems to not be able to let go of his former power to control the board and administration, and has berated and harassed the new chairwoman as she took over just this January. Upon taking over the middle chair, Kay Knight, had a sudden surge of visits at her workplace by Beedle, former CEO Rick Carter, and a reportedly pushy Armstrong.

The incidents were reported to the board counsel, Scott Nave. He has also recieved evidence to the facts and has chosen not to act.

Reporting on a special meeting, I was kept from getting the report from the legal counsel via telephone as Armstrong reached in front of me and hung up the phone.

Records have been denied and kept from me over the past two years. Which again is illegal. It hasn't ended.

Click on images to open and read.

Public response Assemblywoman Fuller/Bob Jamison QAB talk show

Well it's another Friday and the Bob Jamison was on the air. And while I'm on my respite, I thought I would tune in. And quite frankly, I'm glad I did, this was quite possibly the best show I had ever heard.

Now here's my response, since calls were not taken on the show, and Mrs. Fuller said she likes to hear public comment/response, I took some notes and whipped a little blog.

Jamison had Mrs. Fuller on by phone, she was quite wound up this morning ready to say a lot of things, and Mr. Jamison followed the lead like a little ducky.

They stayed steady on talk about propositions voters will have to contend with once again, regarding money for education, trying to sort out the good from the yuck.

When Jamison, or as I like to call him "jaws", went to commercial he teased proposition 1F regarding raises for the legistlature as the most controversial issue.

Of course, Jaws didn't believe they needed pay raises as Mrs. Fuller agreed, and that she had turned down her last pay raise as an assembly member. She said that she doesn't think that any pay raises would go out in a time with an unbalanced budget. She even said that when she was the Superintendent of schools she turned down pay raises in times of budget problems.

Here's the thing, Jaws, you and your board members at the hospital gave huge raises to the administration 19% to the former CEO, Rick Carter, 12% to CFO, Chet Beedle. How does this man get away with this hypocrisy?

Mrs. Fuller didn't call him on it. Polticians are afraid to speak up unless it has to do with something they personally are backing.

Then Jamsion went on about taxing the public, yet he is and was behind getting a general obligation bond to the people of this valley to do construction on the hospital. Burdening this valley with more property taxes.

And he was part of the conflict of interest between Rural Health Design Network and Aspen Street Architects which turned out to be rotten to the core, with faulty plans and incorrect estimations. Yet, Measure M, was the threesome board member, and the Pam Ott, plan.

(Just a note, when I have tried for over six months to get the contract with Rural Health Design and Aspen Street, I was told in an email I will share that they didn't know what I was talking about. I have tapes and even interviews and now they are amnesiacs. The booklets are in the conference room, Heidi, if you want to know more. Here's the email I recieved regarding the feigned confusion as to what I was asking for. Other information including this, I found when I was at the hospital. There are booklets with the name RHDN. If I can find it...

"Do you have the date of when that recording was done? It may help me with regards to where I should be looking.
--Heidi"

"Laura,
I mounted an exhaustive search with regards to the Rural Health Design Network. We had the Accounting girls run every variation of RHDN we could think of looking for a check that was issued to them and were unable to come up with anything. I also spent a great deal of time looking through previous Board meeting minutes and was unable to find an agreement with them. I will continue to look through the minutes. In the meantime, it you can think of any variation of RHDN I am certainly open to suggestions.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas,
Heidi" )
Anyway, more irony went on as Jamison pointed fingers at Sacramento for it's inability to administrate programs. Oh my god, my chin just dropped. Here is the thing, Mr. Jamison, you have been the oversite at this hospital and you're pointing at others? Give me a break. You watched the skilled nursing facility go down the toilet while you attacked the Knights and tried to sell your phony general obligation bond. The more you talk the more I listen.

My favorite part of the show came at the end when Jim Hunt, another guest squeezed in past Mr. Jamison's comments, said he thought, though it was extreme, that we should get rid of all the incumbents in Sacramento and start over.

I laughed so hard, yes, we should get rid of some incumbents, the one running that talk show would be a good start.

Now to Mrs. Fuller and her comments. Mrs. Fuller I have much respect for you trying to do the right things in a climate and system that is unable to support those who want to do the good things. I'm sure that's why you went to the assembly in the first place.

You said today that there were a lot of bad things in the system, the way the bills and propositions can be manhandled, that there are many hands in the cookie jar, and you talked about oversight.

Well, there are so many problems with the system itself. Much like our hospital, there were not systems in place to handle the changing healthcare standards, it would had to have been manual, meaning people would have to have had to really look and see the downfall coming, like the CEO and CNO and the board.

The government oversight was also not any help. Department of Health Services watched the SNF deteriorate, while being paid their daily sum. What a waste of taxpayer money.

I'm going to broaden my comments for you Mrs. Fuller, as I have a few opinions to share.

First, I love California, it's my state. The problems don't just eminate from this current crisis, it comes from the fact, that we don't realize that government can't do for us what needs to be done.
It's a morass, a web of decietful undercurrents, that needs to be changed before anything can be done.

I like to call it the "intelligence reform act." I suggest that we stop talking about our founding fathers and realize that we need new founding "Mothers and Fathers." There are plenty of people who could help and would do so for little or nothing. (What kind of idiot would put all their time in and not get paid. Oh, yeah, I know one)

Submitting intelligent ideas to a government who may not understand, but should be willing to concede to its own impotence, by creating a fast track of information to make changes.

Mrs. Fuller said she wants to create new jobs and infrastructure to support industry in our state. That's a really cool idea. How are we going to do it? Yes, we have earmarked federal dollars, but half will probably go to people who don't know what they're doing, and the rest will trickle down upon us. Or not.

Again, I laughed as Mr. Jamison agreed, and thought about the fact the hospital has cut out local staff and paid high prices to outsiders to get things done. The biggest employer in this valley, with a huge debt, legal problems, and looking to cut out more to survive? But Mr. Jamison continues to talk with little or no idea apparently that his work is being watched at the hospital and he is not passing the test.

We can all feel the meltdown of the former government we ran. It's not just the people who we elected, it's the system we created. It's big now with so many needs, I'm sure you can feel the tugs all over you Mrs. Fuller. (tug, tug)

And we are global now. It's not just about us, it's about all of us. Our economies are inexorably linked and we need to streamline our system to recognize this.

Let me offer my father, who would put your budget together in a week. Mrs. Fuller you and the Governor would be happy to know he has a knack for this kind of thing, he was corporate for 30 years. And my sister in corporate America found a forty million dollar mistake that was being paid for years at a large food company. Would she be of interest to you?

Now Mr. Jamison started the show by talking about home budgeting, which he insisted was mandatory and smart. Well, again, Bobby J, how have you applied this great knowledge at the hospital? By paying whatever anyone wants? Has the ambulance company come down on that contract? Or the Republican that you think you are, how can you even talk about a general obligation bond, or have a fit over dealing with Cal Mtg. on the debt?

You know Chrysler is in Chapter 11 right now, and that's where all these companies should have gone. There should have been no bailouts for them, but bailouts for health and education. That's where we are lacking in our priorities.

We have allowed education to come down to a sprinkling of budget, and that's going to kill our economy in the end. We could end up as a third world nation.

People are our resources and we should take it seriously.

And this hospital needs to be reorganized immediately before we are descended upon by the state. (We will be talking about this soon in detail.)

Finally, Mrs. Fuller, you noted that unlike other countries we vote people in and out regularly which makes us unlike other nations. Well, maybe if people were around long enough they would then have to be responsible for the success or failure of their plans and actions. However, that may not be true as we have had Brad Armstrong on the KVHD board for twenty years and he has yet to quite get a clue and certainly doesn't want to take any responsibility. (why did Armstrong run again, I'll tell you soon)

There needs to be change. Throwing money out the window is ridiculous. I'm sickened by the federal bailouts and the states being last in line for help.

The government isn't just broke it's broken. And until something or someone can help us voters see that, it will be a fun roller coaster ride.

My advice is if you really want something done, do it yourself. Complaining is a vice. Action is a virtue.

Michael Moore is out there with a new spin on the feds and scapegoating. Read his article in Time. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893837_1894189,00.html

Thanks for the show Bobby J, it was illuminating on how out of touch you are with your own little government project.

And hey, if you disagree with anything I say, Jaws, just call me up and I'll come to the station and we can have a show "down." How bout it pardner' you up for that? Are you chicken?

Remember when I wanted to work at the station and you found all kinds of ways to try to keep me from working there? I guess your intentions are in these emails I have saved. Will have to look thru them together sometime. Or we could just simply discuss hospital business on the radio. Whatever you want to do.

Thanks.