This article has been updated to correct the calculations used for Evo Management Company’s monthly payment under the “The Contract” subheading.
Some Tulare residents have one more thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving: Evolutions Fitness and Wellness Center is slated to reopen Saturday at 6am.
The announcement comes after the approval of a contract between the Tulare Local Healthcare District and a company specifically formed to get the Tulare gym up and running.
Kevin Northcraft, chairman of the healthcare district’s board of directors, stressed that reopening Tulare’s gym wasn’t their priority — it was just the easiest thing to check off their list.
“Opening Evolutions is not the top priority of our district. It’s the easier thing to accomplish,” he said. “We remain focused on the hospital reopening and the safety that we will provide our community when the emergency room and other functions of the hospital are opened.”
The board voted 4-0 to accept the contract and begin the path to reopening Evolutions. Newly sworn in board member Stephen Harrell recused himself from the vote due to his wife’s personal training business at Evolutions.
The Details
Dennis Mederos, a Tulare attorney, spoke on behalf of Evo Management Company, formed specifically to temporarily take over operations of Evolutions, to the board and public.
“The goal is to have the doors open on Saturday, and when people enter, to have Evolutions appear to be exactly as it was the day that they left it,” Mederos said.
“There’s always potential roadblocks. Absent the roadblocks that could come, we feel we’ve got everything in place to open this place at 6am on Saturday,” Mederos told the Voice.
Mederos said that the plans have been in the works since November 4, but Evo Management hadn’t made any moves to rehire employees until the contract was approved — and won’t take any until Healthcare Conglomerate Associates’ management of the hospital is terminated at the close of business Wednesday.
“On Friday, steps can be taken to hire the necessary personnel,” Mederos said. “Friday will be a very busy day.”
He said that there would be steps taken for potential employees to register their interest, but there wasn’t anything concrete as of the night of the November 21 meeting.
The Contract
The agreement, between the district and Evo Management Company, LLC, would give the company the right to operate Evolutions until November 30, 2018, or the district the right to take over Evolutions sooner.
They’re hoping for sooner, Mederos said.
“Our hope is that [the interim CEO] will be able to come in and run things with the district and the district will be can in very short order — maybe 45 days, approximately — come in and say we’ve got the financing, you got things in place, it’s time for us to take over,” he said.
All the Tulare Local Healthcare District needs to do is provide 30 days’ notice.
“I can tell you that these three managers would like nothing better than to turn this back to you,” he added.
The Tulare Industrial Site Development Foundation, Tulare Local Development Company, and Tulare Hospital Foundation will commit a combined $300,000. Each will provide a manager to oversee operations of the company.
Paul Atlas, with the Tulare Local Development Company; J. Michael Lane, with the Industrial Site Development Foundation; and Patricia Hitlin, with the Tulare Hospital Foundation, will serve as the company’s president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer, respectively.
The board will also be able to appoint a five person oversight committee to inspect Evo Management Company’s financial records and oversee operations. It will report back monthly to the district’s board of directors; additionally, the district’s representatives would also be able to view the entity’s financial records at any time.
Exiting the agreement would require an up to $300,000 payment — only to repay the three organizations that have provided the initial investment to get Evolutions back up and running.
“It’s specifically indicated in the agreement that it will not be more than $300,000 to pay it back,” Mederos said.
Other than that, Mederos said the contract was significantly lopsided — in favor of the district.
Evo Management Company will pay $45,000 as an immediate advance of rent due. Monthly, the company will remit all of its net profit to the District, minus a credit of $5,000 monthly against the advanced rent; any loss in a month would be carried over to the calculation on the next month.
“We get absolutely nothing, and you get everything,” Mederos said, “and that’s how this has been drawn. Even to the point to where our first act as a company, before we even open the doors, is to write you an advance of rent in the amount of $45,000.”
He did admit that opening Saturday likely wouldn’t be easy or flawless.
“We know it won’t be smooth — it won’t be smooth for the members, it won’t be smooth for operations, but it’s a necessity, and we think we’ll get it to the point real quickly where Evolutions will be where it was before,” Mederos said.
Reopening The Hospital
Larry Blitz, the interim CEO of the Tulare Regional Medical Center, presented a progress report on the reopening of the hospital.
A recruitment announcement was provided from the district to the media and public on November 17.
“Applications are coming in like crazy,” he said. “I can tell you that we have physicians calling us every day that are very, very interested in coming back, and wanting to be in the hospital.”
Blitz is a consultant with Wipfli/HFS, a company contracted by the health care district to oversee the hospital’s transition from HCCA to new management.
Blitz’ staff are preparing filings to be sent to the California Department of Public Health to reopen the hospital. Additionally, the department would need to perform a survey of the hospital to ensure compliance across major categories.
“Hopefully next week we’ll have a pro forma, our budget to be able to say this is what it’s going to take to open, so we can go to funders who are going to help us get started to say — here’s where we are, here’s what it’ll look like in a month, in six months, in a year,” Blitz said.
Those filings and projections hadn’t been done sooner due to a lack of information provided by HCCA, though Blitz said that some information is now coming in.
“We haven’t been able to give to the funders any information, because we didn’t have it,” Blitz said. “And that’s the practical part of why it’s taken so long.”
During the meeting, Blitz noted his impression of the community’s response to the turmoil at the hospital.
“I have to say in all the years that I’ve been in healthcare, this is the most cohesive community that I have ever encountered,” Blitz said, “given where you are and what your challenges are.”
The Warrant
Blitz spoke with the Voice prior to the meeting about any impact a recent search of the hospital could have on its reopening.
Officials with the Tulare County District Attorney’s office spent over 33 hours on the premises of the hospital serving a search warrant, starting on November 16.
The warrant was for “business records and emails,” and officials seized “computers, cell phones, external storage devices, flash drives, payroll records and all emails for a total of seven email addresses,” according to a statement from the district attorney’s office.
Blitz said he didn’t see the search and seizure of equipment at the hospital as a deterrent.
“Our understanding is that if we need to access that information – we will have access to it,” he said.
Officials with the Tulare County District Attorney’s office weren’t able to comment when asked about the issue.
Congratulations on another positive step.
Evolution may not be related to hospital operations but it sure gives a good signal.
IMHO, new team should seek counsel of following doctors about medical staff issues esp what not to do parts. These are doctors who are dedicated to Tulare community, can think objectively, are politically neutral and do not let money influence their opinion.
Dr Evans
Dr Kuo
Dr Chiu
Dr Flora
Dr A Shah, Peds
It is as important to avoid having anti-Kumar group controlling the hospital as it is to avoid having Kumar group having the power.
We are not interested in any one group having so much clout that the doctors who are not able to agree to that group feels alienated and disinterested.
We want doctors who are here to serve the people, not their personal politics – be it Kumar or somebody else.
How can we define an “anti Kumar group”? Members of such a group would put the interests of the community before their own selfish gain. They would deal openly and respectfully with the public, recognizing that they are doing the publics work. They would not be blinded by arrogance. (e.g. They would never answer a question posed at a public meeting; “We dont have to tell you”). They would be accomplished in their field (physicians for example would be board certified with a clean record before the California Medical Board). They would not sign contracts that are designed to benefit outside business interests at the expense of the community etc , etc. People who have these qualities are almost by definition “anti Kumar”. Let us not repeat the errors of the past. Lets make sure that ONLY “anti Kumar ” individuals sit on the board or advise the board. The “Kumar group” should understand how much damage they have done to our community and they should leave! I suspect Mr NV, that given your attempt to draw a moral equivalence between the “Kumar group” and the “Anti-Kumar group ” that you are trying to defend the Kumar group or your sense of right and wrong is very out of balance.
No, TP, not every one who is anti-Kumar is a well wisher of the hospital.
By these term here, I meant people who were opposing Kumar due to their own personal issues with him. I can name some names but it is best to name the names that we can use and let others be where they are.
Besides, just being anti-Kumar is not enough. A lot of people hate Dr Kumar for many reasons. The person must have sincere desire to help and must be willing to sacrifice his/her time & energy.
And I dont keep Kumar in “all-bad” list. He indeed has done more for this hospital than anyone else has. He has brought a lot of admissions, procedures & surgeries. He works very hard, used to see a lot of patients, never used to deny anyone and was willing to work no matter Thanksgiving or New Year or what have you. He has saved a lot of lives. He has taken his personal time (=money) to lobby for hospital interests in Sacramento and even in DC. He got clinics transferred from county to TRMC. He may have done most of these things for his own benefit but he helped the hospital too.
Before 2007/08, I used to be a blind devotee fan of him. He was like this energy monster who never gets tired and is willing to do whatever work came his way.
He has done more than anyone else. More than anyone else he empowered Benzeevi to shut it down. Years ago, long before I ever heard of Benzeevi, I recall a discussion I had with a group of physicians where I expressed my opinion the Dr. Kumar’s ultimate objective was to crash the hospital, financially, and then pick up the pieces for his own gain. This was and until very recently continue to be his agenda. It is my hope, that regardless of what his intentions were, Dr. Kumar’s actions over the past few years Will result in a long jail term.
No denying.
After 2007/08, his actions hurt a lot more than they helped.
I would also like to suggest that plan should prioritize opening the “bread and butter” parts first. These are –
1) Medical Surgical admissions – one floor will be enough to begin with
2) ER (we have to)
3) Delivery room
4) OR for basic surgeries – eye surgery can take 2nd place, robotics is not necessary at all (it was brought at great cost by Shawn to please the queen ie Dr Kumar’s wife)
Cath lab is not a necessity – we had trouble getting cardio to see patients on time – Dr Gupta, Kumar’s brother was the worst – his response time was as late as 48 hours – he has very busy practice in Visalia and Tulare was a very very low importance to him. Dr Lin has retired – another loss due to Kumar. Dr Lin used to make cath lab valuable. We should probably make a requirement that only the Cardio who lives in Tulare or has main work in Tulare will be allowed. We can make a rule that Cardio consults have to be responded to (ie Cardio calls back and discusses with primary doctor) withing 2 hours and must be seen within 12 hours unless primary doctor has agreed after discussing the case that it is okay to wait longer.
Hillman clinic has been destroyed by Samantha Bland. She focused solely on doing only what was needed to fill in the blanks on the medi-cal waiver 1500 grant paper. That is a very different focus that what our community or hospital needs. There were no patients left other than narco seekers getting their fix by Dr Kumar. To make it official, IMG and LaSalle have given their patients to other clinics.
Hillman’s only value is that its licence can be sold to FHCN or Altura. Clinic will be a drag on hospital and will not make any money – given that patients are gone and have no reason to come back, FHCN and Altura have opened many extra locations and competition is fierce.
Hospital will see bigger value in aligning with these clinics. They can sell one licence to each in exchange of understanding that they will prefer hospital for labs and radiology. Lindsey and Earlimart licence can go to FHCN, Hillman & West street licence can go to Altura.
Labs & Radio services for these clinics alone is enough to turn hospital finances in green. We will also need to negotiate with IMG and LaSalle. Shawn was stupid to give away these contracts just to get better rates for GI services.
NV, to quote you, “there were no other patients left other than narco seekers getting their fix by Dr. Kumar” Well now, if you knew that , I must assume that even an incompetent unethical doctor such as Kumar knew that he was enabling drug seekers. From you comments it seems that you are medical professional, perhaps with a license? If so , it is your duty to inform the California Medical board of your accusation. The community expects you to do your duty!
Tulare patriot, NV knows what he or she is talking about with the clinics. Kumar is a pill pusher. All who worked at the clinic knew this. The clinics were not profitable and they will be a drain on the hospital. Samantha Bland never got them up and running after Paulette Carpenter left. The medi-cal and Medicare patients have been reassigned to the other clinics. The local doctors stopped working there and the ones that were recruited were not paid in a timely manner or at all. The patients will not return. The hospital’s best bet is too align with Altura and FHCN. Perhaps Hillman can be used for tele-medicine or a REAL urgent care like KDDH. But this would require lab and x-ray to be there too. Paulette had suggested this back in 2010. All services have to be at the same location as it makes no sense to see a patient, send to the hospital for tests then drive or take the bus back across town for the results and treatment. A pharmacy would benefit the patient as well. Again, it would be an urgent care, not a clinic with patients returning for care. It also needs to be open 12hours a day at least. This would help the ED at the hospital and let them treat more serious illnesses or injuries. We have to think outside the box.
No, I am not a med prof with a licence but I have been around long enough to know some and I have many many friends.
Hillman has a very long reputation for attracting drug seekers. I guess it is not always easy to separate legitimate use from simple addiction driven use. I dont know what are duties of a person – nurse or doctor or staff when they see or suspect abuse.
Samantha did “clean up” some prescribers who were kind of easy on writing narcos. But she did it because they dared to not bow to her, not because of narco issue – many other who failed to bow to her were fired and many others who were far worse offender (like Kumar) stayed.
SW-
One big reason clinics could have never been in profit was the very unusual contract with NextGen. Shawn Bolouki signed a contract promising to pay NextGen 45 $ per clinic VISIT for maintenance of their EMR. I have never heard of a contract that is based on per visit ever in my 20 year history working with these clinics. I bet Shawn &/or Bolouki were getting paid in some secret way for letting such contract pass. By contrast, a primary care doctor gets paid 35-50$ per visit for his service.
You have it right on the sweetheart contract deals. Why has the computer system started in the hospital supposedly changed so many times, look at the Siemens contract. Or the bogus medical foundation that was created, pretty that $300k was pocketed somewhere.
Anyway they could skim a buck with no one being the wiser is how it has been done.
My friends at Altura have confirmed that they have been told by IMG & LaSalle to take over patients from Hillman clinic. Altura has been putting extra providers and time to get these patients seen. It is like a FEMA camp over there.
Shawn pi$$ed off Altura so much that they opened a location right next to Hillman clinic (Bardsley & Mooney) and another one right next to West clinic just to take away their patients. FHCN also has opened clinic on West. Given their far better operations – and that patients were feeling like at Hillman they were nothing but guinea pigs to get more and more paper work filled – patients are highly unlikely to come back.
Give me ONE reason you would come back if you were a patient there.
Hillman building is very old. It has mold and asbestos problem. Many efforts have been made to try to get rid of the odor but it does not. TRMC cleaned off asbestos in clinic area but county did not in the areas they occupied. They just stopped using those areas.
It may be difficult to get this building approved for anything new licence. Security is a concern in that area in late hours. Besides, RHC licence sells for pretty good money. TRMC has to make sure to get different entities bid against each other. Probably, they all know TRMC will not be able to run the clinic and they might want to buy it for pennies on the dollar. We may have to invite United FQHC to bid in order to increase bids. Another very interested party could be Omni clinic in Kern county. They have been desperately trying to enter Tulare county. Kaweah Delta could also be a good suitor.
The clinics became one of the biggest distractions in completing the Tower. Horrible decision when it passed in 2008, documented of use of bond for the Woodville clinic and it allowed one individual to bill as a GI when he was pushing pills as an internist. Did he ever pay back the overbilling? One of his perks of being on the board. He was never touched or corrected.
The clinics were almost exclusively for the benefit of Dr Kumar. He could run the show unchecked, he got paid twice the rate, AND yes he did get paid specialist rate even for seeing general medicine patients. He was the only one for whom clinic was opened extra hours. He was the only one who did not have to chart in EMR. Anyone who he did not like was fired. It was like his private property.
And when Samantha “cleaned up” the clinics of all doctors, he was the only one getting to serve all the business. It was done in the name of quality or whatever but real purpose was that Samantha was working as his personal servant to eliminate all other at the dinner table. He wanted all of it for himself.
While we are at it hold doctors accountable to actually seeing the patients vs asking the RNs how the patient is doing without seeing them themselves, and spending less that 5 sec with the Patients. And please assure the patients are not seen by doctors at 1 am.in morning as a normal occurrence. Choose Doctors like the ones stated previously their character is beyond approach and they truly care for their patients.And please hire RNs who are not afraid of being proactive versus reactive, not the ones who find every excuse NOT to call the doctor when it is obvious the Patient is not doing well or it’s cliseto shift change! We need staff who have respect for their managers and follow standard protocols and not treat these protocols as suggestions and managers to hold them accountable. And please hire ER doctors who are capable not rejects from some other hospital. This community deserves capable and caring hospital staff, not just warm bodies to fill a spot. Make Tulare strong again,
These are all very good comments and should really be read and then re-read by those that will be making decisions for the future of the District.
This movement needs to be about the future health of the District as a whole and not special interests of a select few. Cath lab was also built for Kumar’s brother who has never supported it. No more bad decisions on the whim of one.
Nurses need to know longer help cover-up issues with quality physician performance as well as deplorable conditions. You might have thought you were helping by holding it all together by not rocking the boat but some put patients in jeopardy and that is just unacceptable and goes against the Nurse Practice Act. No more excuses of not wanting to be political, not speaking up helped get us where we are today.
In defense of the RNs some did speak up to managers and that sadly is where it stayed at times not always. And in defense of managers many were given more responsibilities than any one person should have and still be effective. It was a toxic environment ,Benny wanted to be unaware of any problems along with being very unapproachable he just wanted to be the big shot with no responsibility. And once again we see his true character,uncaring, selfish and vindictive in his finial treatment of employees. I look forward to a new TDH with open dialogue , truth, and respect. We can be strong again but only if we never again allow one person so much control. I’m grateful this thanksgiving for the new board members for their dedication in fixing this mess ,I feel they chose a very capable management duo and look forward to once again being proud of our hospital:
I would like to know HOW a person can be made aware of When the board meetings are set ahead of time so I can attend and not have to read about it later !!
The regular board meeting is the 4th Wednesday of each month. This month because of Thanksgiving the regular board meeting will be held November 29th at Evolutions at 6:30 pm. Due to volume of activity this month the Board had special meetings on Tuesdays at 7:00 pm. Notices for all meetings are sent to local newspapers and are posted on the district website,
Tularelocalhealrhcare.org.
The district website is now:
https://tularelocalhealthcaredistrict.org/
Visit for updates, meeting agendas and minutes.
Thank you Staff for correcting the website. Lots of good information on it!
Mr Northcraft, Thank you for your hard work and courage. Let it not be forgotten that Benzeevi tried to intimidate you and your fellow board members with financially crushing law suites (I for one would have lost sleep over that.) Your silencing of one of Benzeevis lawyers for questioning the democratic process was magnificent. Would you and the board consider instituting strict guidelines that will severly limit the amount of board business that is held in “closed session” I understand that certain details of litigation must be confidential but Im sure that many or most of the issues held behind closed doors by the “Kumar Group” could have been presented to the public thereby preventing some of the disastrous decisions made by the board.
NV, sounds like you think you know what’s best for the Hospital and Clinics, it’s too bad you don’t come out from the shadows. You have many things wrong, so I’ll take the opportunity to set the record straight. First, it’s an 1115 Waiver, not 1500. Yes, I wrote the grant that potentially could bring the District in 15 million dollars over the course of the next 4 years. Yes, the grant was focused on transformation of outpatient care. Specifically, quality, safety and satisfaction, otherwise known as the Triple Aim. So let’s start with quality. Prior to initiating changes, there was no documented plan of either quality or safety. This was not in compliance with HRSA. There is one now. Diabetics had not been screened for standard care, such as foot exams or retinal exams. We had an Endocrinologist who failed to order A1c’s per standard of care, patients hadn’t had routine screenings like paps, mammos, cholesterol, and colon cancer screenings. There was no care coordination. We had doctors who were handing out narcotics in combinations that were dangerous. Those were sent for outside review and I subsequently reported many physicians to the Medical Board for quality and safety issues. The clinics are just steps away from being in a position to get PCMH recognition. Something that should have been started well over 7 years ago. I started the only Centering Pregnancy Program north of LA and south of Stockton. We received for the first time a check for HEDIS scores, measuring preventative care. Patient satisfaction was higher than it had been. The staff at the clinics are exemplary. They adapted and learned to put patients first and not providers whims. They now have a clear understanding that nothing comes before the patient. I am proud to have worked along side with them. Yes, patient volume is down, as it should be, no longer are they running 40 patients through in 3 hours. And this is the transformation that was necessary, soon you will be reimbursed as an entity for the measures you meet in the Triple Aim, not volume but value based care. Regardless, of who is managing the entity, I want the District to be successful, I want quality for the community of Tulare, I stand by the work I have done, I am proud of the work the staff has done, I met many lovely people in the community and within the Hospital and I wish them the very best.
SAPB = Samantha Bland
Did your “improvement” plan include not paying the doctors? Not one —
but many — Dr Chopra, Dr Rucker, Dr Ding, Dr Cohen … and many others who left due to not getting paid.
Was getting sued by doctors for non-payment part of “the way things should be”?
If you were getting grant – as you said – where is the money gone? Why did you not pay doctors? or was it just for Dr Parmod Kumar and the queen?
You guys killed patients on the OR table and claim higher patient satisfaction !!! Some very weird way of measuring quality you have got.
In any case, you have been booted out of Tulare along with your masters – with 80% votes. Please stay away. You are neither wanted nor welcome here – ever again.
We will have our imperfect doctors seeing our imperfect patients rather than shut-down buildings, unpaid vendors, unpaid doctors, more lawsuits than number of beds occupied, employees robbed off their benefits, patients getting killed in hospital etc.
You failed – miserably.
Samantha
What is the reason Lindsey clinic was closed?
Was it because specialists were not ordering extra tests in the disguise of “quality”? Well, there was no specialist working there so you cannot blame them.
Or will you blame it on “opposition gang” who wants to bring down Benny & Kumar axis of ….? Well, they had no presence in Lindsey.
Just like all other Benny’s puppets, you too are too narcissistic to see YOUR own fault. It was your “my way or highway” approach of dealing with people that led to these clinic’s demise.
Tell me, did you not announce in staff meeting “whoever does not like it can leave” and that “doctors who do not work with me will not work here”?
Your Hitler like style of management may work in prison healthcare system but not in real life. In real life, people have choice. You made it clear that only the employees who agree with you will work there. Over time, only those who kissed your feet were left.
It is YOUR fault Samantha. You must own it.
Tell me, did you not order employees to work for the political campaign and those who were reluctant were not fired? You know it is outright illegal. You even threatened Dr Chopra that while he works at Hillman, he has to support YOUR political opinion. Oh, he DID show that text to all of us.
If that is not Hitler style, what is?
How come it was that only Dr Kumar was left to work there? The ONLY doctor who has been investigated by OIG for medicare fraud. The ONLY doctor who left charts incomplete for months. The ONLY doctor who had been accused of sexual harassment on multiple occasions. Is that your quality & value??
Thank you for re-opening the gym. Hopefully the Hospital will follow quickly. I do have one question. The bond was voted in 2004/5 and the gym was built in 2006. Was any of the bond money for the expansion of the hospital used to build the gym?
Absolutely no general obligation bond money was spent on Evolutions.
Evolutions opened in 2005 and was 2 years in the making. The bond was passed in later 2005. The first $15 million was taken by the District in 2007, the remaining $70 million was taken by the District in 2009. Both of these events triggered property owner tax liability.
According to bond oversight meeting minute notes (1/08), the interim team that was in place in 2007 reworked the revenue bonds from Evolutions, not a taxable bond but accountable to the bond holders with certain criteria. Those meeting minute notes were submitted by the District when they responded to the Tower of Shame grand jury report. Bond oversight was told at that meeting by Dr. Kumar that they now had $105 or $115 million and almost enough for the entire project.
Now fast forward to 2016, at the end of a meeting that was audio taped by the Valley Voice Laura Gadke mentioned $16 million or implied it going into the checking account in 2007 that was just spent.
Bottom line a lot of money has ran through the District since 2007.
Same old story. The board keeps saying Evolutions is not a priority but that was their first focus. Why? It’s a cash cow, they said this themselves but it’s not a priority remember.
John please listen and see what’s going on. The board handed of Evolutions temporarily to a private company so they could concentrate on the hospital. There is no Department of Public Health restrictions on the gym, so it’s far less complicated to reopen. This town needs something positive and a quick opening of Evolutions is the first of many positives.
The Tulare Industrial Site Development Foundation (Paul Atlas), Tulare Local Development Company (J. Michael Lane) and Tulare Hospital Foundation (Patricia Hitlin) will commit a combined $300,000. Together they have formed the Evo Management Company. Each foundation will provide a manager to oversee operations of the company. The hospital board will also be able to appoint a five person oversight committee to inspect Evo Management Company’s financial records and oversee operations. The hospital board will have complete access to view the financial records “at any time”. Atlas, Lane, and Hitlin are not outsiders coming in to do a “Benzeevi shell game”. Educate yourself John…….foundations such as these are made up of people who are like the people who built this town and continued to rebuild this town when needed over and over again. Read the agreement……nothing in it for them (except recouping their initial investment of $300,000). They do this because they care about Tulare and its people. They don’t just talk the talk….they walk the walk! Something folks rarely see these days. Don’t condemn it, praise it….don’t denigrate it, respect it! This is true community involvement at its best.
Have been reading all these remarks this evening. What I find to be truly interesting is if some of you “with vast medical knowledge” know what it will take to fix the hospital/clinic problems…..where were you when the new board was forming and were asking for info to get the legitimate hospital away from Benny/Kumar and for just basic info of what was really going on? If you “knew” so much why didn’t you step forward to help sooner? Puzzles me.
Why aren’t you in the trenches with them now?
Many interesting comments herein. Not much to do with Evolutions but thats ok, its a good forum. A lot of Monday morning quarterbacking going on now, thats appropriate too. Let us not repeat mistakes by rehiring managers and staffers and perhaps a few doctors who seem to have looked the other way when their masters picked the institution apart. Someone has already discussed the role of Samantha at Hillman.
Who are the other people including the doctors who made up Benny’s and Kumar’s puppet staff ? Who ran the nursing staff, the lab staff, the ER, who sent personnel and materiel to South Inyo ? Are these people reapplying for their jobs ?
It does seem, at least to this observer, that the new board has a respectable amount of group wisdom in their deliberate actions and public comments to date. They deserve a lot of credit. Hopefully they will be very deliberate in the process of reopening the hospital. It should not be rushed. Many if not most of the most capable employees and managers moved on and sorry to say, many of the residual employees were those who could not do so. There are also many good doctors with several specialties in the local area who have not practiced in the hospital since the medical staff was kicked out. These are the people we want back. They are not going to want to see the old guard loyalists (they consider themselves victims too) still in place. There needs to be a thorough cleansing in this institution and that will take time.
TV I find your your comment regarding “ many if not most of the most capable employees…….” insulting! How can you generalize that 524 employees who remained must be inferior.? I know many great employees who remained that any Institution would be fortunate to have on their staff. Many were on the verge of looking elsewhere however they were told to hang on that things were going to be better, how can you fault employees for being hopeful?do you think it’s easy to just quit. Jobs are not as plentiful as you may think . I’m sure you would agree there are many capable and incapable employees in any large institution. Is there some cleansing that needs to be done?absolutely, however there are many good employees who remained for all the right reasons.
TV. Are you a nurse, doctor, anyone in the healthcare profession? It does not sound like it. I would like to see you go in any hospital and try to do what the nursing staff had to do to care for patients under BENZEEVI. They are all hard working dedicated individuals. They are the ELITE. They stayed not for BENZEEVI. But for each other and the patients. Quit talking out your a**.
Samantha –
You will not see employees telling you on your face what they think of when they think of you. But you can see a vote of their sentiment on facebook page of CFHA. Look not in the comments but in the list of who has liked and who has shared.
You will see all of your Hillman staff there. That tells it a lot.
Probably in coming days, they will not be as afraid to speak up.
Thank you on your reply that no general obligation bond money was used to build Evolutions. Now please advise how the 2004/5 obligation bond money was spent. You don’t need to itemize however please document time frame and moneys distributed.
Whatever issues people have with Dr Kumar let us not forget his donors helped raise funds for the foundation that has helped give back to the gym. We must move forward, put the past behind but also give credit where it is due.
I’m also just wondering, I’ve heard the board will be seeking a bond to finish the tower, isn’t that what they were against during measure I??? Measure I could have passed and the monies could have been secured by another group of people. What was the concerned about Benzeevi..?? It could have been setup to manage by an oversight committee.
Just read the contract
Until the people involved are prosecuted I will never vote for another bond. No oversight and no audits?? forget it !!!!
That goes for any bonds attached to my property tax !!!!
Absolutely!!! They’re not getting my vote either