Sierra Kings District hospital surviving bankruptcy: Glitch former KVHD CEO missing employee pension funds

We should never have let her go: we owe them an apology

The Kern Valley Healthcare District was in a shambles in 2007 as the skilled nursing facility was under investigation for "chemical restraining" which may have lead to the deaths of several residents.

The CEO of the time, Pamela Ott, now charged with eight counts of elder abuse, resigned in May of 2007 and with the defense of KVHD board members, such as Bob Jamison, now infamous for his hour long radio broadcast, allowing Ott to defend herself, left and took another CEO position at Sierra Kings District Hospital.

Much like KVHD, Sierra Kings serves a small community, and is a public district. Ott took over, and a month after elder abuse charges were filed, in 2009, Sierra Kings fired their CEO and their CFO, Barbara Jennings.

Because Ott was not pursued by the justice system, or KVHD board and legal counsel, she was able to obtain her job at Sierra Kings. She may have even recieved a reference.

We allowed her to go without taking responsibility for the many crimes which occurred at the district during her tenure here in the KRV. (But the beat goes on...)

Sierra Kings went into bankruptcy

Within a month of Ott's termination at Sierra King's, the hospital went into bankruptcy and the board brought on a familiar management company, HFS.

HFS, who recently audited six months of KVHD records, because of the default with the hospital's "old debt" insurer, CAL MTG., took Sierra Kings the only route it found most promising: bankruptcy.

With the backing of the City of Reedley, they were able to try many options, allowing the hospital to continue to serve, and also grow.

Sandy Haskins became the interim CEO, and during the bankruptcy it was reported that Ott had been able to utilize monies from the Reedley community's GOB that was to expand the hospital.

The second and now more nefarious deed, was the pilfering of the Sierra King's employee pension fund.

According to an article in the REEDLEY EXPONENT the bankruptcy is going well, new equipment has been purchased, a new building constructed, but the employees who participated in the pension program, some have lost their retirement.

The article mentions the fact that the employees have tried to attach their lost or stolen pension monies to the bankruptcy but will have to go without, as there is no way to reimburse these employees for the loss.

I'm sure that the employees will find another route, like suing Pamela Ott, who will ironically be forced into bankruptcy herself as she faces both criminal and civil cases. Her co-defendant in the KVHD case, Gwen Hughes, has filed bankruptcy and will now have to utilize a public defender to fight the Attorney General's charges against her.

But the bankruptcy is going well they say....

After the most negative campaign for Measure G here in the Kern River Valley, it was stated repeatedly that a bankruptcy for this district was: Not possible, destructive to the employees who would lose their jobs, and the community would lose all its services too. We all shook with fear.

Now, Sierra King's District Hospital in Reedley, is coming out of the end of their bankruptcy with more services and a new building.

Did they talk to the attorney kept from public view by KVHD administrators and board members?

http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.reedleyexponent.com/&ct=ga&cad=:s7:f2:v0:d1:i2:ls:e0:p0:t1288923213:&cd=RC56ecKtCQg&usg=AFQjCNHSk3womzkafiHR0_Tf8KtsgQSlHQ

KVHD new management company HFS: what will they find here, as Sierra Kings cleaned out by Ott?

(Blogs are currently being updated, and put in a different order. Some of the things have already happened, as HFS is on board doing it's thing, which is to see if there is a way to save the hospital as it is in default on it's contractual obligations regarding the revenue bond project that has plagued the hospital with defaults and service and licensing issues, as well as staffing.)

After a disappointing sale-a-thon at the Kern Valley Healthcare Board of Directors meeting, where the big news was left for last, while we pretended the hospital had not just been taken over by Cal Mtg. the insurer of the revenue bond debt, fourteen million dollars.

Next week, we will not only be signing a contract with HFS financial consultants, we will have "tele-psychiatry." Finally, somewhere for KVHD board member,Bob Jamison, to get help and watch TV at the same time.

I love the Christmas list we're getting for believing things are so much better at the hospital. (It's always good to see the board passing out the kudos and pats on the back as they explain if the community doesn't pay we're out of business. Makes sense...on some other planet I suppose.)

We are going to have new stuff, cool things. Right? And I'm sure much like they have done, if anything goes wrong, they will stand up and take responsibility. Sorry, that's not KVHD that's Sierra Kings in Reedley.

Oh, but we have to pay for it with a general obligation bond. How do those bonds work?

Two thirds of the voters must agree to raise property taxes to pay off the hospitals' debtor Cal Mtg. Then what is left of the monies will be spent on a "retrofit."

Yes, we heard Chet Beedle and Pam Ott say for years it would be too uncertain financially to retrofit the hospital or remodel as there could be hidden costs as there could be mold from the leaking roof in the ER, or more likely asbestos in the ceiling requiring hazmat units to remove it.

They are right. But now the hospital administrators have one plan: pay off the debt and remodel the ER with the money from the community by way of property taxes in the form of a GOB.

Now these bonds have restrictions, you cannot use the monies for anything such as raises, operations of the hospital, just what the community ordered.

Hold it...Or can you?

Pam Ott almost had Measure M in her hands in 2006, until the nursing center collapse.

I was on the campaign trail with Ott and Beedle who both told me that the bond money was safe, as it could not be used for anything other than what the voters said it is to be used for.

After her rather quick departure in 2007 she headed to Reedley California somehow landing another CEO position even with a degree from a diploma mill on the internet.

Sierra Kings district hospital, currently in bankruptcy and being run by interim CEO, Sandy Haskins, of a familiar company who will be here in the KRV soon, HFS.

(HFS began it's contract only a week ago so the inspection, audit, is underway with the audit and we will see what the can find, and fast.)

HFS has been putting the pieces of it's life back together since Ott was fired in October 2009, after elder abuse charges were filed against her.

Now she might find the Fresno District Attorney interested in her recent shenanigans at Sierra Kings. (If the DOJ can't get her, maybe the DA and the good people of Reedley will)

According to this weeks article in the Reedley Exponent, a dynamic, community driven, newspaper, it seems 1.7 million dollars of "GOB" bond money was misspent. (But Ott and Beedle said that couldn't happen)

With CEO, Tim McGlew, and CFO, Cheet Beddle, and possibly the whole KVHD board counting on quickly planning a bond, construction project, and anything else that would entice the community to vote for it's "save the whales" campaign, it's good timing to look at what could have been the KRV.

It's all about trust

Many of us who lived thru the Pam Ott era and survived or partially survived, remember the promises of what the community could do by voting in a bond.

We were all ready to go and believe anything she said. I personally backed Ott and the bond.

Elder abuse charged, Dr. Hoshang Pormir, was another fan of Ott, and was photographed for many of the advertisements for Measure M. He backed Ott's play like nobody else in the hospital.

Now, HFS, trying to revive a dying hospital, Sierra Kings, finds that more than 1.7 million dollars in bond money, with very restrictive uses, has been used.

Oh my? How could that be? there are laws against it.

Well, according to the Exponent article, a government expert said by going against the will of the voters, they have lost "public trust." (along with 1.7 million dollars)

Haskins, the article said, verified the monies had been misused. Apparently, the town of Reedley was excited to vote in a bond worth 20 million and at the same time be promised new technology, another ER, upgrades on the birthing center, Adult and children health centers and seismic upgrades so that they will be standing during an earthquake.

Although monies went for other things, there was a construction project and new ER, but vendors walked away unpaid too. (Oddly, it seems they still have money left over. Good planning, it seems they planned for the misuse of the funds.)

Haskins does say that the rest of the bond monies not used are now being used properly again.

It's so easy to do a bond and build a building isn't it?

At tonight's KVHD meeting there was no chagrin as the board was confident there was no waiting for planning a future project, say in two years when the next election takes place, rather they would push forward and hurriedly get a "thingy" together for this election in November.

There is apparently no time for planning, that's out. We need to take action.
Unfortunately, because financial status reports were unclear, the KVHD board decided not to take action last year when it was apparent the hospital would be in default on it's debts by at least this year. And in default they are.
(I'm lying they knew there were problems but they waited until they are being hijacked by their debt insurer to do anything. Now the extreme measure of going to the community for money is being taken. Had we acted on this last year, could we have allowed more time for planning for the future? Would we have invited more community members in to help? We are setting ourselves up for failure and I'm going to watch it happen. I won't be happy though, but people will learn.)

What if they rush into this and then change their minds about the project, or the prices fluctuate, and the bond is written that the monies will be used for these specific purposes and nothing else?

With minimal planning and a rush job, it could happen. That could lead to a second bond or a third, etc. Or it could lead to using that money for things other than were voted in, which would be against the law. (we don't believe in the law at KVHD so it's really not a problem. And since all the agencies let us get away with "murder" I don't think anyone should worry about consequences.)

Do we really want our hospital "rushing" out a project when in the 1990's they took years to accomplish a third of what they promised and are now in default over?

I wouldn't recommend it, but the hospital is doing what "it" wants to do.

I've been in construction, it's never a good idea to rush anything, most especially a medical construction project with many different types of guidelines which must be followed. You could lose your shirt and fast with all the regulations involved.

Oh, yeah, we know that, but we haven't learned that. We are preparing to make the same mistake again. This time it could be with your money.

In Reedley the clean up from the Ott aftermath

Only the latest financial mismanagement, said the Exponent, as they had reported last month that Ott and financial manager, Chet Beedle, no sorry, Barbara Jennings, held back payments to it's social security alternative program.

Bankruptcy is an interesting process as it uncovers EVERYTHING which may have been done in error, or on purpose, who knows, nobody is going to tell the truth.

With HFS up in Sierra Kings, we have a good opportunity to see what they can do following up on Ott here at KVHD. They may see that there are similarities in the way both our hospitals were run financially.

The board of directors oversight

This article which tells a tale of blatant mismanagement at Sierra Kings, only serves as a warning of what is happening here in the KRV.

A government affairs official cited in the Exponent article said that the board lacked oversight. Well duh.

Tonight at our local hospital board meeting a moment of "who is running the show" became apparent at the end of the night.

CEO, Tim McGlew, told the board he had selected NTD an architectural firm, to put together something for them to see, regarding the bond again that will be on the ballot in November. He said he chose that particular company because the board had used them before.

Then he added, "if that's what the board wants to do."

Suddenly, a board member made a motion, and finally a sensible thing happened: Board member, Kay Knight asked what they were voting on, the company, money, what?

So, before they had heard what they were voting on, motions were made. Does this not make you think that the board is relying totally on it's CEO and CFO?

Obviously, because, one of the board members said the CEO and CFO are the heroes of the district who have cut costs and have been doing an excellent job.

So, I guess there's no reason for a board of directors then? Let's just get rid of them.

According to the article an attorney warned that the board can be liable for things that they should have been watching....and doing their due diligence.

Motioning for a vote without knowing what your CEO meant, is blind voting, pavlovian. Only easily manipulatable minds do things like that.

A tale of two types of boards

With Ott possibly facing some more criminal charges the board of directors in Reedley had something to say.

One board member said they weren't strict with Ott and didn't really know how the money was being spent. The Sierra Kings board member then conceded that the board is beholden to the community and staff.

What a board member actually took responsibility?

No, not here in the KRV, I'm talking about those people in Reedley whom I'm smitten with these days as they would be wonderful to have around here.

The one Sierra Kings board member who admitted they didn't watch carefully, now says that HFS is reporting everything. If they can't pay, the board knows about it that day and is able as a group to take action.

But out of all of this, DOJ, defense attorneys, Measure M supporters, Cal Mtg., we may actually see the truth, and with that truth, correction can be made.

You cannot make a good decision based on inaccuracies and untruths.

If the hospital runs down to the architect and says can you do all of this for us for this price and they say sure, that will be the restriction on the ballot. But as Ott and her gang have shown, all laws can be bent and broken: and people too.

I'd say print out the Exponent article and when the board comes a calling to tell you that they must have this bond: show them the article.

We need to trust the board and administration before we can even consider this bond measure.

And with a financial manager using credit cards to pay for operations costs, it's a cheesy operation which would love to suck in 20 million of "free money."

One audience member tonight summed up the issue of the debt with one practical question: why did it take 20 years to fix this problem?

As usual, no one answered. But maybe the problem with the board is they don't know what to do and hope that they can just skate by on silence and dodging questions they don't particularly like or agree with.

However, at issue is that the problem was never fixed and couldn't be obviously.

Who said that you can only go to a meeting if you agree with the board? Nobody. And in fact, if you harass or target someone for not agreeing with you, you're in violation of a few laws.

Things were strangely chipper, as if we had invited our debtor to take over the hospital. Some of the things that were said, were so out of touch with reality, I could hardly keep my mouth shut. And got gut shot for it too.

It is difficult for me sometimes to be able to explain some of what I have researched to people, board members, administrators, who don't or maybe can't think outside the box. But I feel confident that you the KRV resident, come November, will want to hear more and learn more. And I'll make sure you get the correct information.

One claim I've heard repeatedly is how good we are doing in comparison to other hospitals.

Well, it was said again tonight...

If we are doing better than most other hospitals across California, than why are we being taken over by a bond insurer? Are all the other hospitals in worse shape? How could that be, it makes no sense. Worse would mean, what, closed down? How much worse is it when you have to get a bond and refuse to consider any other options? When it makes no sense, you go to the experts and find out why. I'll get back to you on this.

Then we will wait and see what the DOJ, Etra and Ginsburg, the medical and nursing boards, the Fresno District Attorney, have to say in regards to potential charges against Pam Ott and our other cases of bad judgment.

Now if we find more evidence for you Jerry Brown, could you possibly stop the woman from taking down more than two hospitals and a nursing center? Isn't than enough?

Hopefully HFS will have not ideas, but will dig and find the things they have found in Reedley on our former CEO, Ott. And find the things that still keep us from having a functional hospital.

More to follow...
Thanks again to the people of Reedley, the journalistic integrity, the community support, you are an example for us all to follow.

And here's the article:
http://www.reedleyexponent.com/articles/2010/05/05/news/doc4be1d4b3d65c6435055285.txt

Press control button and click on link to open or just copy and paste into address bar.

Sierra Kings District board: Did former CEO, Pam Ott, stop payments to employee pensions...

It's the valley kid again, in trouble, or actually it's an interesting story up at Sierra Kings District Hospital in Reedley, CA, where Pam Ott is now being blamed for stopping payments on the employee pension account. But the story isn't so clear....
(UPDATE) It's been reported and a complaint filed with the Fresno County DA, that Ott also was able to use the communities general obligation bond monies they voted in specifically for an addition onto their hospital. Somehow, she found a way to move monies that are protected for a specific purpose into the hospital operations account. Hopefully, we will hear news soon on that.)
Sometimes people find other people to blame things on when they don't want to take responsibility and possibly lose their job, friends, spouse, over something which could simply be shifted on to someone else, a doctor, a pharmacist, a nurse, a whole hospital of employees, or however you need to do it to save yourself.

the healthcare shuffle: the blame game

Pam Ott, left our valley here in 2007, as the CEO on the run, she headed up away from criminal investigations, into the Reedley area where she landed a job as a CEO, again.

She put the past behind her, leaving the blame for the nursing center disaster, in the hands of those who unwittingly trusted Miss Ott as she said she had plenty of credentials to handle the SNF.

Ott left with the idea that this was the last we would see of her, bye bye. (idiots)

The blame seemed to fall right in place, onto the people Ott managed convince to help put out the small conflagration taking place at the hospital.

Now it's Ott's turn

Ott didn't get far, as Sierra Kings hospital was on the brink of bankruptcy when the word came down that the California Department of Justice had filed elder abuse charges against her in Sept. 2009.

the Sierra Kings District Board

The board of Directors, claimed they had never heard about Ott's little problems here in the valley at KVHD. (I was so quiet nobody could've heard me) They were shocked and outraged, and put Ott on leave, until the court date, when she was then dismissed from power.

But these things never end there do they?

Ott gets canned, and now Sierra Kings is filing for bankruptcy a month later. According to an article in the Reedley Exponent, the Sierra Kings board of directors is now saying that Ott and her CFO, Barbara Jennings, stopped making payments into the Social Security pension account late last year.

The IRS supposedly came out to tell the board of directors that this was done and that it was quite illegal and could get them booted out of the special pension program.

It's funny when people lie

It seems the hospital board members were appalled by this turn of events and said they didn't know it had happened, and their new CEO, cleared himself too, Sandy Haskins, saying, according to the article that he made sure the payments were made.

Why this leaves poor Ott and her sidekick with all the blame. I wonder how it feels to be blamed for something you may or may not have actually done?

The board members are supposedly looking for a record that they knew about the payment problem when they fired Ott and that was part of the reason she was tossed to the streets.

However, in the article, a link will be at the end so you can read the actual story, the board said it couldn't find the minutes to prove that they had a meeting and knew Ott had not paid the fund.

That sounds fishy?

They know they talked about it, just not when or where the dialogue would be to prove it.

But guess what? They don't have to prove it, they can just say it. Since Ott is already blessed with the title of elder abuser, she's probably capable of these other oversights.

The board in Sierra Kings sounds an awful lot like a certain board of directors I know oh too well here in the valley. (quick to protect themselves of course)

I don't know if Ott did it or if the board just wants to avoid getting stuck with the blame, but I wonder if Ott didn't do it: How does it feel to be scapegoated? How does it feel to be the one everyone blames?

I'll stop now, because I a moments away from saying "na, na,na, nanna."

Read it in the Exponent:
http://www.reedleyexponent.com/articles/2010/03/24/news/doc4baa394719421767508279.txt

They're just like twins, except one is nattily dressed and the other can't afford a diaper: Sierra Kings in Reedley CA

It Swings at Sierra Kings...

I must say I do enjoy reading the Reedley Exponent, a small town "news" paper with a little bite left in it. (internet newspaper, which I like)
Of course, readers of this blog have come to know Reedley and Sierra Kings District Hospital as the hide out for elder abuse charged, former, local CEO, Pamela Ott.

After Ott hit the road in 2007, skidding out of the way of the SWAT team on it's way into our beloved Kern Valley Healthcare District, attempting a rescue or an investigation, but Ott got up the road a ways to Sierra Kings in Reedley.

Still noted in state Department of Justice criminal charges as a witness, Ott, stayed on at Sierra Kings, utilizing the same architects we saw here at KVHD, Aspen Street.

Aspen Street which never lifted a piece of lumber onto our hallowed grounds in the Kern River Valley, managed to put together some architecture for the people of Reedley, who recently toured the new addition.

However, Aspen Street hasn't been so lucky in it's old home of Tehachapi, where the last this reporter heard, there were tiny footfalls of attorneys about. But I did also hear from a legal type here at KVHD, that Aspen has been doing work for the military.

(The sound you heard was me laughing. More on the Aspen street military projects and the Tehachapi problems.)

So, Ott caught up with Aspen at Sierra and prior to her sudden departure last June when the Attorney General's office charged her with elder abuse, Sierra Kings was on it's way down, to bankruptcy.

And now so are we

After hearing about the hospital's financial stability in 2006, the skilled nursing facilities wonderful and humane services, the new services just waiting to be born at KVHD, it's an amazing downhill slide to see a business so important to the community take this nosedive.

But as I've explained the nosedive occurred twenty five years ago when the hospital went into debt. After the debt and the mangled construction project, there was no where to go but down.

At last months' Kern Valley Healthcare District's board meeting, I asked the financial manager, who has finally admitted to the fact that the hospital has not been properly billing for many years thus decreasing actual intake versus projected monies, why a bill for little more than eight dollars was sent out?

He said we need every dime we can get.

However, the CEO, Tim McGlew, absent from last month's finance committee meeting as well as the Feb. board meeting, did address that issue saying it is not necessarily the strategy to take as it costs more to try and bring in that small amount of money.

I always feel thankful when some reason appears on the scene at the hospital.

However, the financial situation is getting to the point of making all of us nervous. Chet Beedle told us again we would not be able to pay the August payment to Cal Mtg., the state insurer of the district's revenue bonds, and therefore the future is anything but assured.

Now, we look at our twin, I'm calling it that just to be funny, but it is odd about Ott. Anyway, they have been roiling with debt, eaten up by cutbacks, just like any other rural community hospital, it's tough out there.

But they brought in a consultant firm straight off the ACHD site HFS Consultants (Association of California Healthcare Districts, an advocacy group for rural hospitals) and an interim, CEO, Sandy Haskins, who has been doing a similar backtracking of the billing issues there.

According to the Reedley Exponent, the hospital is going back several years and offering a deal to reduce the debt by 40% if it is paid off within a month. Haskins doesn't expect to get back all the monies owed, therefore, the option is making it easier for the consumer to pay off the debt rather than write it off, keep their credit standing, and the hospital will then be able to show some cash towards it's efforts.

They are also sending out three mailing attempts to get the deal going, but they may have problems with the age of the debt, as the older they are, people have changed situations. And people probably have accrued others during this time as well.

But it's an attempt at getting money in the coffers of that hospital and fast.

They called a special meeting to make a report

And what makes it even more interesting was how Sierra Kings or actually HFS handled the situation by communicating with it's active and interested public.

They had a special meeting and gave a report of the "plan" taking place and where it was at and where it was expected to go.

That feels like bliss to me. Hospital districts offering information. I have requests into KVHD that go back three or four months. I don't complain, I collect and record. What else can I do? Barge through the doors with a hand held copier and bottle of mace?

And then there's the reporting on "non labor" expenses and supplies. Here at KVHD we talk about "variable" expenses which very much include labor and the ability to maintain it. Not having that much more luck than we used to.

I know, I hear the propaganda too, but there is still a problem with staffing at the hospital and now, the lives and paychecks of pharmacy employees have been altered too.

There's nothing like knowing jobs with retirement are on the decrease, and rarely turn out that way.

Chet Beedle the financial manager who likes to talk about and in volume, is looking to retire from KVHD.

So, were nurses and other employees I have known throughout the years looking forward to the phantom retirement plan.

We have yet to have a special meeting and talk about these collection and staffing matters. KVHD has been remiss in it's communication as it is having it's own problems understanding why the ice cream cone is melting.

We need to ask Chet Beedle. We need to ask two members of the board, and then we need to ask ourselves if we are willing to pay it forward for this hospital in the form of property or sales taxes.

They seem to be studying

Over at the well dressed Reedley hospital, the special meeting pointed out potential savings, not a lot, but enough, 150 thousand eventually. That is a lot and can be used for other purposes.

Now here at KVHD, we squandered half that money, 60K on a public relations firm which did nothing except end a contract with sixty thousand more than they started.

We have squandered our money. The records are lousy with terrible ideas which never came to fruition. And good ideas which didn't come to fruition either.

But it's the attitude I like about what is happening at Sierra Kings, they are including the community. They know they have something very important in that hospital, with it's new wing, that they need to walk carefully in these dark economic times.

KVHD is a cesspool of mismanagement to this day. Yes, there have been improvements in many areas. But it's the idea that we are hounding people for $8, when we should do a mailing or something like that to get people back in the system, paying again.

Might start with calling charity care, by another name. That won't fly. All government agencies need to get it, people, by and large want to work, but they need help to get there sometimes. If there are interim programs people will be more willing to sign up for that rather than, a your so poor you qualify for a Ukranian insurance policy.

Collections, taxes, general obligation bonds, these are the buzz words of your future KRV. Get to the meetings, get on the internet and research, and let's keep this hospital open and going.

Our elder abuse past will soon be behind us, maybe even next month, if the right plea deals are handed out and the cuffs are unlocked from the others who don't deserve them. The civil cases will get settled sooner and that will no longer play with Diane Sawyer on ABC "Where in the World did you get that news from" again.

Those who think this valley is going to stay around with inaction on the part of the community will be surprised how quickly things sink in quick sand or roll down hill. Think fast....here it comes.

Some updates on the flu shots/and a hail to Reedley

Get ready for a little prick, as the Kern Valley healthcare District will indeed be getting flu shots for us this year: and we can still drive thru.

The district is expecting a shipment of the mighty seasonal, elixir, before the end of the month, and will be setting up dates and times for us to drive on by to get our shots.

I'll get you those dates as soon as they come available.

(I'm thinking this might be a good opportunity for the hospital to combine the drive thru flu shots and make a little extra cash doing say...tire inflation and window washing...or maybe even some other medical stuff, like, Podiatrist, Dr. Holly Spohn foot checks, or maybe a looksy down the throat and in the ears, or since we're getting new OBGYN's, a "mobile pap smear" only for those with reclining seats though.)

Hail to the straightforward people of Reedley

Since Reedley was put on the map recently (actually we in the KRV are now officially on the map with a pin stuck in us) as the town that hired on our former, elder abuse charged, CEO, Pamela Ott as the CEO for their hospital, Sierra Kings. (They didn't know about it when they hired her, don't misunderstand)

As has been reported on this blog, Miss Ott, was put on administrative leave, unpaid, by the Sierra Kings District board, when she was charged last month with eight counts of elder abuse stemming from her turbulent employment and leadership here at KVHD.

The CFO, Barabra Jennings, who was hired on by Ott, according to the chairwoman of the board, Trish Johnson, who also said that Ott never told them what the court date was about, that the charges came as a total surprise.

(Yeah, she was quite the surprise package here too)

But I like to keep up with the Reedley news as the hospital there is now in bankruptcy, though trying to salvage some of the plans of recovery, with an interim CEO and CFO.

The Reedley Exponent put up such an intriguing headline last week, I couldn't help but be impressed.

"Local Hospital Chairwoman under siege."

(Now I did have my "shock and awe" campaign, but that indeed is not as cool had I been able to put some of the KVHD board and administrators actually "under siege.")

I so like the attitude they have in Reedley about their healthcare. As we know healthcare can sometimes do more damage than good, so it is a dead serious issue. (coming soon: "A Patient's Plea," a rural healthcare nightmare)

According to the article, by Exponent editor, Cheryl Lingo, Trish Johnson received a visit from two members of the community, who on their own accord, asked that Mrs. Johnson step down from her role as Sierra Kings chairwoman.

Yes! Be direct, be honest, you're not doing the job, you're a public servant, and the public is asking you to do the right thing.

No...she didn't step down. (We know that from our local situation. I've not only said step down, I've yelled it, to their faces. But ego is tough skin to tear through. And there is also the fact these people in office, any kind of political office, think that we voted them in to serve themselves and not us. Did you vote for that kind of service?)

But good job Reedley for taking it to them and speaking out against mediocrity.

I would like to say that I am personally sorry you ended up with Pam Ott in your area. I'm sure had you not gotten the letters of recommendation from the likes of our "terminally" a board member, Brad Armstrong, or our famous public speaker, Bob Jamison, or even Aspen Street Architects, you may have looked beyond the facade.

(I wish there was a board of directors I could sit on and vote to close that radio station Mr. Jamison enjoys using as his play toy. I need to ask someone if the hospital is doing any advertising still with the station. Since I don't really like to listen anymore, I haven't noticed. I'll find out.)

So, thank you for again setting an example for the craven, apathetic and ill informed people of the Kern River Valley. I wish you a hospital of luck.

What can the small community of Reedley teach the Kern River Valley...

The small community of Reedley, California, southeast of Fresno, had a rude awakening more than a week ago, when their Sierra Kings District hospital, CEO, Pamela Ott, was charged with eight counts of elder abuse in a case that started in another rural community, right here in the Kern River Valley.

Ott, who was the former CEO/Administrator for the Kern Valley Healthcare District, resigned her position in May of 2007, as the skilled nursing facility was on the verge of collapse, and placed in "immediate jeopardy" by public health officials at least twice before she left.

(Will be bringing more quotes and pix from the May 2007 board meeting. After watching the video again, I noticed more than I did the first time around. And boy, I bet most of that isn't in the minutes. Then I was still fishing for information, now I can see clearly looking back on this video. Hopefully, we can have that up next.)

Sorry about this community of Reedley, but we could not get the support from the citizenery, media or the government, in particular the Grand Jury, to reel in our people who were responsible for short staffing our eldery residents care, while at the same time allowing a nursing director to order new medications without contacting family members, ignoring employee complaints, and finally denying any wrongdoing.

Instead, we sent off Pamela Ott, with some sort of glowing reference from the chairman of the board at the time, Brad Armstrong, and Sierra Kings District ended up with her and her skeletons in the closet.

In fact, Ott was "under fire" when she left, as employees began to get brave and talk about what had happened. I was right on her heels, but she ran, protected by the phalanx of support inside the hospital.

This afternoon, I spoke, with Sierra Kings District board President, Trish Johnson, and she confirmed that Ott is on an unpaid "administrative leave" until the court hearings Nov. 3 and 4.

Johnson said, "Pam Ott is on administrative leave, we've been looking at this situation, so we're far from done. I can only tell you because we are taking this very seriously, that the outcomes are not definite yet."

"So with that said," Johnson added, "we're doing what we can to keep the hospital from running rampant with rumors. There will always be disgruntled people as you well know, we don't contend to hide anything."

I asked the board President if the charges against Ott came as a surprise.
"Yes, it did. The board learned about it the Tuesday after Labor Day and we did not have any idea, we knew she had to go to Bakersfield for a court appearance, but we did not know what for."

Johnson concluded by saying that the board will be reassessing the situation with Ott in November.

The local newspaper and website," The Reedley Exponent," had some excellent coverage with a story regarding Ott, along with an opinion piece to knock your socks off. There were also some well written letters to the editor which reflect the situation at Sierra Kings District.

In editor, Cheryl Lingo's article, she quotes the board President as saying that they could not have known of Ott's past prior to hiring her.

(quote from Exponent)
"Johnson said the board was unaware of Ott's problems when she was interviewed for the CEO position two years ago. Johnson said she believes the board did its due diligence in confirming Ott."Every organization has its internal struggles, and there's no way we could have uncovered this sort of thing," she said."

In a punched up opinion piece, by Fred Hall, no holds barred, he tells it like it is about Ott resigning and even the board members resigning.

Unequivocally, in everyday language, Ms. Ott you should quit immediately for the good of the entire community and staff of the facility where you are employed. It’s simply a matter of doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons!

Hall kept rolling, and I'm going to give another sample here that may give some here in the Kern River Valley and at the healthcare district something think about.

In the interim, we can only plead with those who were placed in charge of this tremendously important community asset to do your jobs and get things cleaned up. If you’re incapable or unwilling, then get out of the way! This hospital is a public entity and not something to inflate the egos of a few or enrich others who show such incompetence in dispatching their fiduciary duties.

Here are a few comments from the letters to the editor section:

It is time for a change in the hospital’s leadership and time for the current Board to be held accountable for their poor decisions and inattention to fundamental issues.

We also have just become aware that the hospital's board of directors was fully knowledgeable concerning these problems when the contract was offered to Ms. Ott. It seems apparent that Mrs. Trish Johnson, board president, chose to overlook or at least play down the implications of these legal problems which were well known in Kern County prior to the employment of Ms. Ott.

So many of these comments are familiar to us in the valley, as we have struggled with certain board members, and administrators, such as our chief Financial Officer, Chet Beedle for several years now.

Go to the Reedley Exponent and take a look a their stories and reactions. They are planning to bring in extra help so they can rightly provide media oversight so the community of Reedley doesn't remain in the dark.

The Sierra Kings District board will being interviewing for an "interim" CEO and CFO as Barbara Jennings was terminated according to the board President.

Though Johnson resisted talking about the situation with the Cheif Financial Officer, she said the two situations were "unrelated."

However, in the news article from the Exponent, there appears to be some relationship:

Johnson maintains there is no connection between Ott's being placed on administrative leave and the firing of former CFO Barbara Jennings. "Barbara Jennings wasn't fulfilling her duties here at the hospital. These two things are not connected." Johnson confirmed that Jennings was brought on board by Ott.

http://www.reedleyexponent.com/