Newest board member, David Derr, a former fireman may want to bring out his hoses, as the hospital board meeting revealed serious problems with their longevity.Many people were surprised, but why should they have been? Possibly because they were unaware of the problems taking place due to the district's lack of honest communication with its community members.
There are many diehards, such as Reverend, Charles White, who sat with Pamela Ott going over plans for the 2006 GOB election. White has been allowed to go to meetings such as the strategic planning meeting in 2008, where board members, voted to give, before elder abuse charges were filed, 25K dollars only to Pamela Ott. Hmm...
(White shown above, at the December 2, 2010, board meeting, when the board agreed to bring on attorney David Weinstein to offer financial options.) I again brought this to the attention of Scott Nave of Lemieux and O'neill, the board attorney, why the public was not allowed to attend the strategic planning event, as Bob Jamison, then board chairman, said in the minutes from 2008, the meeting was closed to the public.
Then how did Chuck White and former board member, Chuck Wild, manage to make it to this meeting?
These are the people who have kept secrets, as they knew before I did, that in 2006, the GOB construction plans were not doable. Why didn't they tell us, me, the Attorney General? Charles White who works closely with KRVR, knew, but did not alert anyone.
(CEO, Tim McGlew, shown listening to audience questions and comments) The community has a choice: the time is now. However, if the hospital happens to fail, we will have to pay the debt with our property taxes. I've never heard them tell us that. But there is much more to this: we need a hospital, only we need to work together to get it.
And we need administrators, board members, board counsel, that are new and not attached to each other like screaming kids in a haunted house.
New people, new day. And more oversight, meaning help from the county and state, to put this together and functional.
It is obvious this group has failed. The problem is that they didn't learn from their mistakes and have never really faced what they have done that brought us to this point. Did the CFO and his pharmacy buddy, Elmo, really need free rent? Or were they taking advantage?
We have all had the chance to help, but most people hid and ran off. Some got sick fighting to get their jobs back. Many moved away.
The CEO, simply took two raises, and now complains they didn't know it was coming.
They didn't know I was coming to the meeting last night either, but I came because of the news regarding the cuts to reimbursement, and a few other things. Though I wanted to stay home as I am quitting smoking and not in a great mood, I thought it best to go, as the hospital got quiet...as they say before the storm.
McGlew talked about a figure of 1.8 million they were facing to lose, and I thought I would remind them they survived 2.5 million they overpaid to Sycamore Management, the group brought aboard the SNF in 2007, according to the CFO, to "stave off Cal mtg," the insurer of the debt that never seems to show up on the profit and loss statements.
They have also paid millions over the years to get contractors to help put humpty dumpty back together again. That didn't work out, paying top dollar, while you are broke? But again, this is how this district has been operating for 22 plus years.
Now is the time to think about the ramifications of allowing others to run such an important component to the community without oversight.
Check their wallets and briefcases if they try to leave
KVHD has no one to blame but themselves. The one constant in the last eleven years has been the CFO, Chet Beedle, and with some logic we can assume that he probably should have been replaced for a variety of troubling reasons. But no action has been taken by anyone, including Cal Mtg. who has been lied to by the "expert in critical care access" accounting, as Mabel Chan, case manager for the hospital, referred to our CFO in an email.
(KVHD Chairwoman, Victoria Alwin, may have to find other people to try and control, as timing the public comments and banging her gavel, have not made her popular. But it may not be much longer that we have to listen to this judge-like chair, who has forgotten her "roots." Alwin, a former critic of the hospital prior to being elected, has been on the defensive of her own performance in the last two years...) As I said, the Kern Valley Healthcare District board of Directors have no one to blame...however, they always find someone or something other than themselves. The CEO, started his usual round of excuses starting with California Governor Jerry Brown and moved up the line regarding the federal changes in Medicare reimbursement brought to you by President Obama.
The eleven years of financial leadership by CFO, Chet Beedle, shows the hospital administrators and certain board members, did not have the qualifications or tenacity to protect the district. But we never tried anything new in all those years here in the valley.Oh, forgive me, they did try something new when Beedle cut staff in 2005, preparing for a campaign run for a GOB, they used chemical restraints and free labor from the hospital auxiliary volunteers to keep the nursing center open.
They have been asleep on the job.
Now we need a hospital, and most remarks from residents were conflicted. "I want a hospital, not this one."I rephrased the question, would you like to keep this hospital if there were radical changes to the administration and board and medical providers? Then the answer became clear to everyone. YES!
Don't let them take the hospital away: it's the administrators, board, and their friends who need to go.
I explained that we can and will have a hospital. The problem which has been here for eons, is the valley's inability to understand what has happened. We were sold out in 1988, selling more revenue bonds to try and complete the hospital expansion that contracted in the course of the work.
They failed to complete the whole project, and therefore doomed this valley to forever have to deal with a debt that could remove healthcare forever unless we move quickly.
We need to start over, remove the high salaries, which the CEO, when asked if he would pitch in some of his salary, stated they are only "pennies?" He indicated taking money from his pocket and other administrators would do nothing in the face of his speech on our "serious issues."
How many pennies did his Jaguar cost?
McGlew who came aboard as the highest paid CEO in the history of KVHD, may not realize that his salary is NOT pennies to the residents who he is supposed to serve.
Who wants the CEO salary? It's 230K a year, plus all the benefits of not living in the area, or even using the facilities for he and his family's healthcare. Stop, I do know that Mr. McGlew has a disabled child who requires certain special care.
Has he EVER considered that he is not the only one that needs specialized care? We have developmentally disabled residents, ailing people, and services that KVHD cannot provide for the patients in the valley.
Did, CFO, Chester Beedle, not see this situation coming financially as there is a wonderful newsletter from "California Healthline" that keeps me, at least, up to date on the healthcare bills and news.
I offer up the idea to the California legislature: Before a public district can begin the process of gaining money via General Obligation Bonds, it must have a district preliminary vote. That will save the time and trouble of finding out that no one cares about a hospital that has put up murals and paint over their horrific mistakes.
Unfortunately, as you can see on the face of Dr. Gross DO, there is little time left to do the right things, they are far too late...And now we will likely pay for their decisions.
(Dr. Robert Gross DO, KVHD hospitalist, former adversary of the administration who had to hire an attorney regarding the KVHD/ Sienna Wellness clinic, asked that residents write their representatives. The board seems unaware that they are government, elected officials in a public district, with public monies, and they should be writing on our behalf. But they ignored this too long and now we have to decide for them as they had nothing but excuses, scapegoats, and long faces at last night's meeting) Hello to all involved in the 2009 subverted attempt to save the hospital?
In 2009, I saw this coming...where was the board? They were trying to stop negotiations with Cal Mtg. and because of bullying it happened. We never made it past Chet Beedle, Brad Armstrong or former CEO, Rick Carter, who Victoria Alwin blamed for stopping the potential progress last August 2010.
How exactly did Rick Carter stop the negotiation on his own? He didn't, it was a group effort. This is why these people cannot blame anyone but themselves, as they have not shown any leadership or foresight.
They saw the day coming, or if they didn't, then they should just step down now and avoid certain repercussions.
We had support to deal with it. Why didn't this board override Mr. Carter, Alwin's villain, and do what we had needed to do for 20 years?
McGloom and McBeedle stop second attempt at negotiation
I have some ideas, and solutions, but the community now needs some back up, such as that attorney they ignored for one year, and when David Weinstein came around to shore up the information regarding our chances of negotiating with Cal Mtg. or even bankruptcy, but four board members and the administration held the meeting off while signing on to another Cal mtg. debt relief given the district so they would not burden the valley residents with a GOB. (this is according to Cal mtg. and some documents: the board asked for this email and unlike my PRA requests, I got them their information last night.)
Only last week, the CEO, began speaking about the new GOB. At this board meeting, however, he said there may well be no GOB. But we have heard so many stories, as Beedle told us Cal Mtg. was going to help last night too. I will ask for the documents that go along with Beedle's statement.
If McGlew who could have slimmed his salary, along with CFO, Beedle, and a few others, focused on the main issue, quality patient healthcare, reasonable salaries, services the community has been begging for, we may have been able to plan for the future.
Even with the debt, prudent spending could've perpetuated the district's lifespan. That was never the case. They were not saving for a rainy day, and look soaked now...by everyone.
Don't forget, as owners, and voters in this valley, you will need to decide which of the options the hospital has left that would potentially bring in new faces, ideas, and direction and allow us to have quality healthcare.
We need people who have the "time" and the intelligence, who don't change their personalities with a sip of power, who REALLY want to help, and not simply offer lip service.
Board attorney, Scott Nave, did not like my questions and instructed the board to do "whatever" they want to do, such as not answering (that's an old one Scott), or sending it to McGlew for an answer. I'm sorry, I have sent complaints from dozens of residents having problems, and the CEO, always promises, but somehow rarely follows through.However, I would like to clarify that Mr. Nave broke loose about me, that I had tried to sue the hospital several times.
While the gal with the timer banged her gavel, I reminded Scott, that I repeatedly said if I were going to sue, I would want a class action suit where all people who were hurt, degraded, billed improperly, defamed, can be redeemed.
Are we a class action act? We need to move fast...if that is the will of the community.
So, to clarify, I was quite ill after my negligent treatment, or criminal, depends on the lawyers you speak with, on 1/20/11. This occurred after I complained repeatedly to the CEO, that I needed help, and the ER was calling people "junkies," ignoring the complaints of an elderly woman who said her daughter was abusing her, and on Christmas night the 72 year old woman was escorted outside the ER to the chairs where she was moaning in pain.
(It was a Merry Christmas)
Again, this is so irresponsible and cruel, that we cannot allow ourselves to be victimized by people who may just walk away with a pension, a tremendous salary, and move on while we the valley pay the debt they so lovingly will be leaving us.
But don't worry, I plan on following their careers...
Next year is another election
With another election year coming up, and a GOB on top of the list of strategic planning, we can jump aboard that election and help bring about change.
As our Governor, the one being blamed for the problems that may take down the hospital, said before he was elected, "we have to break down to break through," and here we are with the timing perfect for this community to take back our hospital from the parasitic spending practices and lack of transparency, which is what they hide behind.
Sierra Kings survived
We have spoken of elder abuse charged, Pamela Ott, the KVHD CEO, who was allowed to escape to another hospital in Reedley, California.
While KVHD was sleeping, Sierra Kings, another public healthcare district, has been through financial turmoil brought on by mismanagement, allegedly Pamela Ott, but they went into bankruptcy...the constant fear here in the valley.
The Valley of Fear
With fearful employees, and witnesses biting at the bit to tell their stories to someone who will listen, KVHD, went down another road, missing ARRA funds, running off volunteers who offered their skills to help upgrade services, took advantage of all those pennies, and now, we have a video of Tim McGlew giving us the bad news.
However, the good news is that Sierra Kings made it thru the bankruptcy, had community support to do it, and they are letting loose the HFS company who managed this whole "turn around" project as they are now back in operation with a happy community.(See Reedley Exponent for the full details)
(HFS, is the company who came to KVHD for an "operation's review" and was tagged with leaving "giant holes" in the report. But somehow they helped Sierra Kings...doesn't make sense, unless you are a KVHDer.)
It is possible to save the hospital, it is not when people don't complain, or they don't have the courage to speak up, or work together, when things fall apart. I'm hearing more and more from the inside of the hospital, and I can tell you they WANT to talk about what is going on.
The even bigger picture
We have options such as selling the hospital, but then we have to consider other issues facing this valley as well. Such as years of work on our "dangerous dam." This could cause closure of the 178 to Bakersfield for years.
It may offer some employment, but in the long run, this valley has not looked ahead, and is running into it's own walls...the hospital would be also effected. Have they considered that too? I'm sure they haven't as they are busy spraying water as their pants are on fire.
But again, we are looking at things too late. We failed in every respect, all of us. Now we have to find out what the reality is, and go from there.
According to George Stahl, writer for the Kern Valley Sun, the hospital is expected to fail. The Sun can be thanked for helping this happen, as if the truth were available to all, we could have handled it. But that never happens in the KRV...
Tim's speech: video and details coming up...McGlew slams critical access care report of quality and safety issues at CAH rural hospitals. Waiting for response from CAH to McGlew's statement.
Board member, Robert Gross, admitted that KVHD has safety issues. All video, coming soon...
