The staff's convenience or maybe...the hospital's administrative variable cost cutting: what do you think Mr. Brown?

I don't mean to be flip, I just need to understand

As I said in the previous post regarding the Attorney General Jerry Brown press release which for the first time in the history of this elder abuse case at the Kern Valley healthcare district, former CEO, Pamela Ott is mentioned alone in the story (a paragraph) being compared to the so -called elder abuser of the year, Mary Louise Wilson of San Diego for attempted murder by arson.

As I was writing about Pamela Ott, the CEO, of the Kern Valley Healthcare District prior, during and ...during the mess that would take place in the nursing center for "several years" (You could try to dispute the time frame, but it's not really disputable, as the records still in existence show.) which would degrade into the the safety hazard it became.

But a hazard, not announced such as the Toyota recall. Now that is something major a company would have to have the courage to do. Admit mistakes and begin to fix them.

That didn't happen at the Kern Valley Healthcare District. But I have a question, maybe somebody can answer for me.

Why is it that Jerry Brown keeps calling the chemical restraints for the staff convenience. Is that a term widely used in the business? Or is it like a smoking area out of the rain, for "staff convenience."

What is this staff convenience?

First, the state tagged the hospital with lack of staff, so are we saying for the short staffing, we will convenience them by sedating patients to the point of little necessary care so we can get by with less staff?

Were all the drugs given for staff convenience or were some for patient and family convenience, as some patients would be prone to anxiety attacks, potential frightening hallucinations, depending upon what disease or diseases plague them?

That's where I'm thrown off of this whole argument. I'm all for the argument that the top manager, administrator, knew of some misuse of restraints, be it, chemical or physical restraints. They were popping the physical restraints like candy too, they just weren't as easy to swallow.

But what is missing is the short staffing causing mistakes and ratios of nurses and patients at a minimum, but definitely, more money for the hospital. That's the act of two top administrators, the CEO and CFO, as well as the "pleasure of the board."

So, there should be some sort of explanation for this oft repeated statement by the California AG, Jerry Brown. I'd love to hear it any time.

The Department of Justice interviews former KVHD CEO, Pam Ott

Former Kern Valley Healthcare District, CEO, Pam Ott, pictured here, in Oct. 2006.





Ott now under investigation by the Department of Justice for her role in the skilled nursing facility scandal which has lead to three indictments.

In 2007, after Ott stepped down as CEO and SNF administrator, she was interviewed by the investigators from the DOJ.

Below is the document, and you can click on it to read it.

Let's go through this report together and see what we come up with. I will add information about the report as we go along.

May 27, 2008 (is that the correct date, DOJ? It took a year to even interview her?)
First line, take note of the fact that she is described as the CEO and administrator.
In fact she signed most of the annual Center for Medicaid Services survey reports, and would have overall responsibility for the operations of the nursing center.
The law requires administrators to be responsible for the overall reporting for nursing centers.

What else do we have here. "Ott stated that the nurses came to her to voice their concerns with Hughes being rude and cruel to the staff, but was never made aware of the psychotropic medications being used or Hughes threatening staff for refusal to administer these medications." (Oh, yes she was made aware of the medications along with others too)

Oh, I beg to differ. But in fact, Ott brushed off many complaints from staff long before January 2007. But again she was busy selling a general obligation bond to the community, and the problems with the nursing center were set aside. Nurses came in Oct. 2006 to speak to her and the KVHD board about short staffing and as you see in the Urban Legend post, she called them a "pack of wolves." (next post, documents Pam Ott and others may want to forget)

The issue in this interview is skilled nursing facility resident, Louise Zimmerman, who, from what I understand died a few months ago. Zimmerman, was alleged to have been given a "forceful" injection of Risperdol, and antipsychotic drug, without the resident's consent.

It goes on to say that Ott conducted an internal investigation (Just like the fox investigated the henhouse) and found that Zimmerman had been "biting, kicking, and hitting others..."

Louise Zimmerman stayed in her room, she wouldn't come out to eat, and she would only eat if a nurse's aide came to her room and sat with her encouraging her to eat. That care requires that staff have time to feed her. And without enough staff, this may have been more of an issue than Risperdal when it came to her health and well being.

Zimmerman had also left her call light on all the time, demanding nurses come into her room.

Though she recieved a lot of pictures and letters from friends, she had no visitors to speak of, except for someone from social services. She made a lot of complaints to the state, being unhappy with her situation.

But my information on the resident shows she had minor violence issues, such as hitting a nurse, or throwing her food trays. Nothing I found reports that she was biting or kicking. However, that's what Ott's internal investigation found.

The last line in the report, seems like a Freudian slip to me. Sometimes we can't help it when our conscience speaks truth without us knowing it.

Regarding the injection of Risperdal, Ott stated she considered the incident, "elder abuse at the highest level."
Oh, yes, there's the truth. And who was at the highest level? The CEO/administrator, Pam Ott.


Ott interview with state investigators.


It includes Ott's own investigation, of what, herself. No, it was now time to scapegoat others.

Gwen Hughes, arrived in Aug. 2006, the new Director of Nursing in the skilled nursing facility.

We were told Hughes had more than 30 years experience in geriatrics, though the indictments say her experience was with psychiatric issues.