KHVD under Fire contributor: Advice from a patient

Bad experience: no recourse

I have this best nurse, she has helped me so much, she's my friend and customer, and she gave me some advice you can take or not.

No names, but she told me you don't tell this community about all your issues or nobody will help you. The doctors and nurses stick together and they will lie.

She is the hardest working nurse I know, she's one of the smartest people I know. I respect her so when she told me not to report a molestation by a doctor I got mad real mad.

I felt like a victim, she's wrong and you don't report it they walk all over you, and that ain't okay. But I got to have a doctor, I have a lot to live for, I want to be here with my grand babies.

I know if I speak up I won't be able to get healthcare.

My husband agreed that if we stay here we can't let our business out for everyone to know in this small town where they talk about us. We decided to complain to the nurse board because theres no choices around here we thought it would be safer this way.

We gave the state board our complaint two years ago then no kidding we got a letter 3 days ago. That made me want to write this to our valley.

What took all these years to type a stupid letter only backed the doctor saying they did nothing wrong. My friend hit the nose that they protect each other, and the state board what a fake.

Our family planned on retiring here around the lake, but if we do we have to shut our mouths about what happened.

It's a crappy feeling being afraid to tell anyone but our advice is to be picky picky picky when you look for a doctor. When we had to change doctors we did it by asking around I even talked to the staff. We feel lucky it is worth the drive to feel safe again.

Complaints are the answer

Laura Hart here...

I've heard so many stories over the last five years I've had dealings with the Kern Valley Healthcare District, that I will continue to urge this community to take back its hospital district, its tax money, until there are measures taken to satisfy all safety, HIPAA, requirements and even a "drop" of quality to bring it back together.

The more complaints I receive, the more chances this community has to recover it's healthcare district and make it into something that has transparency in all it's financial dealings, leading to proper staffing, level salaries, and even a neighborly atmosphere.

Sadly, this story hit me as it is so typical of what I have encountered since I began investigating this district. FEAR.

What did they do with all the complaints I sent?

In a question to the hospital about how they handle complaints and grievances, where the information goes, to who or what, I was rather unhappy with the answer and will pursue this information further.

I expected to hear about a clear and fair playing field, where complaints aren't always promises which never manifest, where investigations actually take place with data to provide information and the response was that most of our complaints hit the round file unless you're ready to move into a court room and likely lose the battle.

So, when CNO, Mark Gordon, glows about his few patient surveys, he is not talking about all the material, because they are not tracking it I found out. They seem to have lost pictures a woman sent to me with a complaint as there were used syringes on the floor under her daughters gurney in the ER.

And when I asked Michael Philps the strategic planner who rode up the mountain on his SHIP to impart his knowledge of KVHD's future, he expressed that in his sessions with the community he wanted ONLY positive comments.

We just read a story about a woman who is afraid to complain, yet that is the answer to actually creating solutions. If we had no problems we wouldn't need Mr. Philps, therefore, any information derived from this type of selective surveying, is useless.

But we need more people to step forward. Until there is significant support and a plan of action on the part of the community, I will keep all correspondence anonymous unless directed to reveal your names.

White collar crime

Well, if anyone should be able to tell both sides of this mountain hospital drama, politics and medicine, it would be me. However, it would have been over and done, possibly solved problems, had there been more complaints and more voices.

But the author of the story is correct, she has a small town to live in, and only one hospital, planned on living rural, and if she wrote a letter to the editor with her name, exposing her situation, immediately she would be a healthcare pariah, along with her family.

The employees of the hospital who have known the activities of this district for a decade or so, have followed the KRV staple, "don't ask, don't tell." It's common in white collar crime situations for people to use the excuse, "I was only following orders."

I have not completely done all the research on the ROC laws, but their intent is to keep people from saying just that: "I didn't know." The government has chipped away at the rights of patients, creating caps on lawsuits, obviously the California oversight needs a serious optometrist, and this makes it "dangerous for patients."

These laws are interesting, but they are not the only ones the feds or the California AG could have used to clean house so that there was a chance of survival, which is waning. These are the same people in charge of the new "healthcare reform" which means if they can't reform a small, rural, unsafe hospital, then we can expect widespread failure in the coming years.

Put the board on the stand

In an ironic way this hospital and community had a chance to make great changes to this district when the 2007 elder abuse case came to light. Had there been interest from law enforcement, or maybe our current Governor who has a penchant for penny pinching, we could have taken action.

There could have been a way to charge more people such as nurses who knew the situation at the nursing center, but again didn't want to lose that $10 an hour job, over an elderly persons health.

Nurses went out on stress leave and somehow got away from this case, yet they were the very ones overseeing the situation, daily. One nurse, of course, was the mother of a long time employee, so she hit the road before the storm, as I'm sure she was notified.

Employees lied to the DOJ, and a few even admitted it. But then that was probably not included in the Public relations releases from Sacramento.

And we all know three members of that board colluded and obstructed the investigation while letting the former CEO, Pam Ott, who had diploma mill credentials, go off to Sierra Kings in Reedley and take them down the road to bankruptcy.

Sierra Kings survived: they voted

As KVHD hits the skids, unable to make debt payments on their "new and improved" 6.8 million dollar loan (but they say it's not a loan even though we pay interest and borrow money?) there is much to be discovered as to how we can "force" proper healthcare in this valley.

While Ott is alleged to have managed to get into the GOB the Reedley taxpayers paid for expansion, and also the employee pension fund which cost some people their retirement, the Kern Valley Health Care district allowed her to walk away from a serious situation and knowingly put another community in jeopardy.

But the fighters in Reedly, unlike the divisive KRV, came together and found a way out, and now in the last two years while KVHD CEO, Tim McGlew, and CFO, Chet Beedle, were street peddling for local tax dollars, they went thru a bankruptcy and leased their hospital and are open for business.

And together they saved healthcare for their residents.

I need your complaints and have sympathy, actually more empathy, for all who have had to endure the lack of quality, safety, defamation, negligence and improper billing practices.

There are many solutions to these problems, but when you see the same mediocre practices, lack of vision (due to a crystal ball shortage they say) for the future, and little or no true communication with the people of this valley, the only way out is actually using this democracy to take action. (yes, we need instructions)

So, I'm going over the "stratragic" planning plan, that looks awfully familiar, like all the others we paid for, and I will bring up the options, ALL the options, we have if we intend to create quality healthcare in this valley.

The only way is to unite, stay away from petty differences, and mull over the true options, we the debt holders of the district, meaning we are the owners in every sense, have an obligation to each other in terms of taking responsibility for this mess.

Critical Access Hospital Network CCAHN Strategic Plan 2010-2011

Draft – CCAHN 2010-2011 Strategic Plan. By MJ Philps & Associates January 29 ...

http://www.ccahn.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/CCAHN_Stragegic_Plan_DRAFT_2010-2011.pdf

And then there's Fraud: customers describe malpractice and billing issues

Tales of the dark side: KVHD ER visit and Pharmacist mistake

She brought her husband in to get a catheter, and Dr. Gregory Crawford, of the Kern Valley Healthcare District, Emergency Room, gave her some bad news: her husband had heart failure.

At a meeting, late last year, the woman pictured below showed up to the tell the board of directors and their management team that this was not so, her husband simply needed a catheter, but they put her and her spouse through "terror." (sounds familiar to me)

Sitting next to the newest board member, David Derr, who was promoted by Dr. Gross owner of Sienna Wellness, this woman said Crawford changed all her husband's medications, which left him with hypo tension, she said, 80/40 blood pressure.

Greg Davis, PA, with the Rural Health Clinic was supposed to have visited their home, after the ER turned into a whole new set of tests, diagnoses, etc. Now, I have never heard of these home visits or how the KVHD administration bills or doesn't bill for such service, but unfortunately, her husband was now back at the hospital.

This time, after she attempted to get him his 'new' medicines from the KVHD retail pharmacy, he was back to the ER being transferred to Memorial Hospital in Bakersfield.

"Now this is ridiculous, I don't know how many tests he ran, but to me that's fraud."

After the trip to Memorial, she told the board, he came back on the "...same medication he was on from the very beginning."

A seemingly concerned, KVHD chairwoman, Victoria Alwin, told her to speak with Tim McGlew, the CEO, as he had an open door policy. And that she could speak to him in "private."

My take on it, was that she wanted attention to the matter in the ER, not a brush off by an administrator. As to the outcome, we know from her perspective, that her husband had to endure a number of new tests, new side effects from medications, a hospital stay, a transfer, and finally back to the medications he was on...not good.

And do they have Medicare? Did Medicare pay to torture this woman and her husband? I sure hope not, as this will be the topic of the month...what's on your bill?

The pharmacist

Marge Eckman, came to the meeting, steaming mad, as her husband, she said, was given a prescription bottle without critical information on the bottle, as well as having two dosages in one bottle.

She made a "mock" prescription of pills, indicating cotton was used to separate the two different dosages and the pharmacist gave her this bottle to take home.

Her ire was up, as Alwin, AKA, "timer lady" told her she had three minutes to finish her story. Eckman dismissed her with her hand, and kept talking about the SAFETY issues associated with this type of situation. (they don't like this stuff on film as you would suspect)

Once again our CEO, took up the position that he would fix the situation. The pharmacist was "terminated" or something of that nature, we were told, and has not been seen around since that meeting. (See article in the Kern Valley Sun Newspaper, by Susan Barr, regarding all the good things about this former pharmacist)

Here's your prize

After the board was either irritated or dismissive as you can tell from the picture, Dr. Robert Gross DO, rubbing his forehead, his usual demeanor when having to deal with an issue, and Alwin shocked that anyone would go past their three minute limit, Eckman wound up with her husband in the ER.

Marge called me the next month to say that she had been in the ER and met a doctor, the director of the "standby" emergency room, and they were almost like "kin" now. I said, what do you mean?

She told me, he was Armenian or had some Armenian relatives, and they were now "very close." In fact, she was given his cell phone number and told to call him anytime.

I said, "good, call him all the time." She responded, "I have called him three times..." and went on to say he "gave me some good advice."

Mind you, this was before the election, which had "Measure G" in the balance, and those who complained were properly lubricated as the hospital had much money at stake.

I asked Marge, "you didn't cancel your complaint with the board of pharmacy because of his sudden interest in you and your husband's health?"

She repsonded, "No way, I'm not stupid." (And I agree)

Dr. Sacapano, shown here, at a board meeting early in 2010, when he became the "medical director" for the ER.
Sacapano would then be responsible for the actions of the doctors who work for him inside the ER. He would be responsible for their behavior, such as the complaints made by others, such as myself, about doctor's such as Dr. Gregory Crawford, who has probably had at least three complaints go to Tim McGlew through my channels.
Has the ER improved? No. And Dr. Sacapano has to take that seriously if he is to be the "director" or lead in the play.
I want to talk about what happened to me, but now for a reason: It cost taxpayers thousands of dollars for my ER visits, and some of the items on my bills were not even within the realm of my issues.
My issues should have been handled by my regular doctor at Sienna Wellness Clinic, but I ended up at the ER as I was not treated for my "actual" complaints. Visit after visit, call after call, and finally the ER. And the bill for the ER is not only outrageous, but it's "untrue" in certain cases.

Next up: Medicare and Medi-Cal Fraud: it's easy and it's profitable...look there Kamala Harris as Jerry Brown left a mess here at KVHD.