Hospital Board Makes Progress, but Contention
is the Order of the Day

By Dave Adalian

Tulare - Tulare Local HealthCare District’s directors managed to form the beginnings of a plan to deal with long, frustrating waits at Tulare District Hospital’s emergency room and ordered interim CEO Bob Kelley to hire a recruiting firm to find a new chief executive officer during their June 27 meeting, this despite the evening being marred by sniping among board members and the audience, and a pervasive mood of contention and division surrounding the proceedings.

The theme of confrontation began early in the meeting when, during the public comment period, Tulare oncologist Dr. David Gallardo demanded to know why the board had held talks regarding the creation of a cancer treatment center without consulting him or his fellow oncologists.

While district directors continued to deny throughout the evening any such discussion had been held, it later unfolded that the board’s two newest directors, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Dr. Prem Kamboj, had toured a recently constructed cancer treatment center in Visalia. This and subsequent discussions with officials at City Hall apparently led to the mistaken announcement during a recent Tulare City Council meeting of a vote on the matter by the hospital board at its Wednesday night meeting.

The issue resurfaced several times during the course of the evening, eventually prompting board president Dr. Parmod Kumar to deny the rumors flatly and pledge openness, should discussions of constructing such a treatment facility begin.

“There is no plan to open a cancer center,” he said. “We will keep the public informed.”

This promise of open communication led to comments from directors Deanne Martin-Soares and Roger McPhetridge about lack of communication between directors regarding district business. In turn, Kumar stated that McPhetridge had been absent from committee meetings, evoking an angry response from McPhetridge, who said he had missed the meetings due to changes in his work schedule.

“If you want to start a slur campaign, I can help you with that,” he told Kumar.

Then, in response to a call for cooperation among directors, McPhetridge said: “That’s going to be difficult when he [Kumar] pulls shit like that.”

The comment caused catcalls and murmurs from the audience in the packed Evolutions Conference Center. McPhetridge apologized later for the off-color comment.

The heated exchange continued after Martin-Soares again stated her call for deeper communication about district matters among directors with the implication she and McPhetridge were excluded from discussions of district business. This led Kumar to comment he had been the odd man out in many 4-1 decisions by the board before the election of Smith and Kamboj in November of last year, and that he had witnessed “you three,” meaning Martin-Soares and two other unnamed directors, coming out of former TLHD CEO Robert Montion’s office before many previous board meetings, an accusation Martin-Soares angrily denied, calling it a “low blow.”

The meeting in shambles, the directors quickly concluded the public portion of the night’s business and retreated to closed session where they were to discuss possible pending litigation and conduct a performance review of interim CEO Kelley.

Earlier in the meeting, however, the directors addressed broad-based concerns about long wait times for patients seeking treatment at TDH’s emergency room.

“We share your frustration,” said Kamboj, in answer to complaints from an audience member who described a four-hour wait for treatment marked by a lack of communication about treatment times and possible alternative sources of care. “We know there are problems with the flow. We were in denial for a long time. We’re working on it.”

As a quick, short-term and partial solution to the problem of overcrowding, Kelley proposed the district’s mobile rural health clinic van be opened to patients in TDH’s parking lot on days when it is not visiting rural locations outside the city. The van is currently in use only two days per week.

The idea met with objections from Martin-Soares, who questioned whether the district was licensed to operate the van on the hospital grounds and whether it would be made available during early morning and evening hours. She also asked about a lack of data about the cost of operating the van, and questions were raised about the legality of emergency room medical staff referring patients for alternative treatment without examining them first.

“My recommendation is we operate (the van) several hours a day to relieve the ER,” Kelley told the board, adding he, on the recommendation of deputy administrator Meade Hallock, believes the district has the necessary permission needed to use the van at the hospital. “The only thing we need is fire clearance to operate.”

Kelley did comment that ER patients might need to “self-refer” themselves to the van for quicker treatment during times of crowded conditions because of the legal requirements patients seeking ER care be examined before such a referral.

Martin-Soares contended her research indicated the district was not licensed to operate the van on hospital property.

“I think this needs more exploration before we put a van in the parking lot,” she said.

The board, in a 4-1 vote with Martin-Soares in opposition, eventually granted Kelley permission to begin using the van to alleviate congestion in the ER, providing all legal requirements were satisfied. The board also directed Kelley to investigate the possibility of constructing a series of rural health clinics in and around Tulare to provide alternatives to ER visits.

Rural health clinics, according to a management memo to the board, would also provide patients for the district’s primary care physicians, provide an alternative site for district employees workers compensation and health programs and increase district revenues, making it more profitable by allowing the district to spread its fixed expenses while being paid a higher reimbursement rate from Medicare and Medi-Cal for some outpatient services. The number of health clinics and their locations was not discussed, although placing a clinic at TDH was mentioned in the memorandum.

“The community has asked us over and over to do something about the ER,” Kumar said. “We have at least the beginnings of a solution.”

The board also directed Kelley to negotiate the hiring of a recruitment service to find a replacement for former CEO Robert Montion, who left the district earlier this year.

The board had interviewed two firms, Witt/Kieffer and HFS, with Witt/Kieffer promising a three-year guarantee of any candidate for the CEO job they presented. HFS promised only a one-year guarantee and its representative told directors at least six months would be needed to find a suitable replacement for Montion.

Kumar said he believed HFS was “more honest” about the time needed to find a suitable candidate and that the Witt/Kieffer representative’s promise of finding Montion’s replacement in just 90 days was overoptimistic.

“We have no savings with either group,” he said. “I like [HFS] because it’s California-based.”

Martin-Soares and McPhetridge both said they had no recollection of a promise by the Witt/Kieffer representative to find a suitable candidate in just three months. McPhetridge also said he found the Witt/Kieffer representative more professional.

“I don’t think the guy from HFS was prepared,” he said.

The board voted 3-2 to hire HAS, with McPhetridge and Martin-Soares dissenting.

In the wake of the vote, McPhetridge said he hoped any CEO candidate would be a “visionary” with a definite direction in mind for the district, as well as an “operative” with keen knowledge of district expenses and someone who will “function well with medical staff and nursing staff.”

He also expressed his hope all candidates for the CEO job would be interviewed by at least three committees, one representing medical staff, another consisting of the directors and a third composed of citizens living inside the boundaries of the TLHD.

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Tulare Airport
Longer Runway Discussed

Tulare - The size and shape of Tulare Airport may be changing over the next few years, if and when the leasing of some current acreage and the purchase of two properties are completed.

The Tulare Aviation Commission is currently trying to lease 24 acres, according to Tulare Airport Manager Milt Stowe. Because the property was purchased through a grant, the city can’t sell the property, it only lease it. The money received must then go to make improvements on the airport.

The city is hoping to see some business or retail development on the property, whether or not it is airport-related. In December, 12 Request for Proposals (RFPs) were sent out to developers and the City of Tulare received two of them back.

“The council put both aside for further consideration,” Stowe said. “They didn’t accept either of them. We’re open to proposals from other developers just in case someone comes up with a plan the city may like.” Sources say that council is awating the outcome of the racetrack project before they settle on uses at the airport.

Meanwhile, the Tulare Aviation Commission is pursuing what is termed the “Overacker Land Acquisition,” the purchase of land south of Hosfield Drive.

“We’re in the negotiation process to try to purchase two acres so we can provide proper security for the airport itself,” Stowe said.

The commission is also looking at eventually acquiring property south of Elk Bayou for runway expansion. The want to have enough land to extend the runway from 3900 ft to 5000 ft.

“We haven’t started negotiations,” Stowe said. “We’re going to need a lot of acres. We haven’t determined how many acres we need or how many the owner is willing to give up.” That property is under contract to developer Bill Morgan who plans to build an industrial park south of the bayou.

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Racetrack Foes and City Trade Blows

Tulare - Setting the stage for a knock down fight over the proposed NASCAR race track in town, the attorney representing several opponents of the big proposed project and the City of Tulare traded verbal blows in recent days.

Attorney Mike Lampe fired off a letter to City Manager Darrel Pyle on June 26 asking why the Tulare Motor Sports Complex LP website declared that, “The City of Tulare is proud to present to you their newest project, the World Class Tulare Motor Sports Complex. The next life style destination spot for California.” Such a statement “misleads the public,” says Lampe. “They only corrected the website June 28, a week after we complained.”

“A communication has been sent to the developers asking them to remove the language from the web site,” said Pyle the day before the web site was corrected. “We wouldn’t want anything to be construed as misleading and it was misleading enough to be misconstrued.”

Tammy Fleming of The Bratton Group, Inc., the real estate contact for the racetrack project, agreed that the web site statement about it being a city project was incorrect. “It’s not the City of Tulare, it is the TMS Limited Partners,” she said. She explained that the web site was done quickly for marketing purposes, but that, “We attracted nobody because of our web site, period.”

Lampe has been all over town in recent days addressing civic groups on why they oppose the project. Those presentations include graphic displays of city email responses to Lampe’s questions on the project in recent weeks.

But Tulare City attorney Steve Kabot says it’s time that Lampe address his questions directly to Kabot as city attorney, considering Lampe’s statements that his group plans to sue over the project. “He’s made it clear on multiple occasions they will make sure it never happens,” he said.

Once there is threat of litigation, “I feel it’s inappropriate for city staff to respond directly to his onslaught of questions and queries,” maintains Kabot.

Kabot says he has ordered staff not to respond to future questions from Mr. Lampe and is recommending to city council members they not discuss the issue with Lampe without the city attorney being present. “Of course city council members can do what they want.”

When asked about the statements, Lampe said the city’s fears are unfounded and that there has been no decision by he or his clients to sue. “In the end it won’t be litigation that sinks this project,” says Lampe who believes the community will oppose the plan. He also believes the noise component of the EIR will likely be the “deal killer.”

Lampe says while developer Bud Long suggests the race track will see several big dollar cup races yearly, comments Long made in the article seem to discount the importance of the prestigious cup races. Instead pointing to the need to structure the complex as a “lifestyle center” complete with a 35-acre lake, hotels and retail complexes “into a pipe dream of ridiculous proportions,” argues Lampe.

Long was quoted in a recent article on a lawsuit between the Kentucky Speedway vs. NASCAR as saying the Cup races are hard to get because of a crowded calendar.

“Racetracks built today have to be more like lifestyle shopping centers in that they have to have a venue of activity, not necessarily with a Cup race. People require hotels, restaurants, shopping. It can no longer be just about getting a Cup date because there isn’t enough room on the calendar for more of those.”

Lampe has been critical of the project’s developer, Bud Long, whom he refers to as a convicted felon frequently and asked at a recent Kiwanis meeting why you would lend money to a guy like him, referring to the city’s arrangement with the developer to front cost for the EIR to be reimbursed by the developers.

Kabot says the city is not backing the project but simply processing an application presented to the city. The environmental impact report on the project has just begun and will not likely be ready in draft form for about six months. The report is designed to answer all questions on impacts the project might bring.

Still, Kabot believes there will be plenty of debate on the concept plan over the next six months that has been presented to the community and suggests it only makes sense that the city is considering it since it “could bring 4,000 jobs to the city.” Kabot is citing a new SCE analysis.

Lampe’s presentations to the civic organizations in the city are likely to be followed by those from proponents of the project, such as the members of the Tulare Industrial Site Development Foundation who helped get to this stage who may offer their views in coming weeks on the civic club circuit.

The Tulare Industrial Site Development Foundation, which brokered the land acquisition, plans to counter the opposition’s public relations campaign with one of its own with plans to hire a public relations firm to get the word out. “There has been so much negative put out there and some of it is just not accurate,” says Foundation member Bob Reynolds.

Industrial Site Foundation board member Lynn Dredge says “we just want to have some more balanced information out there.” Dredge says “all the agreements to sell the land for the race track development have been signed” on a total of about 750 acres needed for the big project.

Asked about the situation, city council member Rich Ortega told the Voice that “we really have to be arms length on this until the EIR comes out.” If asked to meet on the issue by Lampe, Ortega says he will tell Mr. Lampe he should go through the city attorney. Ortega says Mr. Lampe “is just doing his job” and may be helpful in bringing up issues that will need to be addressed by the EIR study. “We sure don’t want any surprises at the end of the EIR process,” notes the council member.

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HACER Stays True to Original Goals

Tulare - As a civic group, the Hispanic Alliance for Culture, Education and Recognition is one of the youngest organizations in Tulare and one of only a few not affiliated with a national group.

Nevertheless, in 14 short years HACER, as it is commonly known, has awarded more than $90,000 in scholarships to 116 students—Hispanic and non-Hispanic alike—developed an ongoing recognition program for good middle and high school students and helped organize and co-sponsor events such as the Cinco de Mayo celebrations to showcase the Hispanic culture and create community awareness of its traditions.

“When we first started, it just happened too fast,” said Rachel Rodriguez. “We had a small committee and everybody in that committee just started calling friends. There was a great need for an Hispanic service committee in the community.”

The organization has evolved much as she had hoped.

“I’m most proud of the scholarship dinner/dance,” Rodriguez said, referring to the annual May event which raises money for future scholarships and honors the current year’s recipients. This year, 15 Tulare high school students received $500 scholarships.

Recipients and the colleges they plan to attend include:

· Tulare Western High School: Joshua Landes Anderson, California State University, Fresno, (CSUF); Joseph Cabello, Art Institute of Santa Monica; Roxana Chavez, a California State University campus; Heather Dargo, University of California, Santa Barbara; Cecilia Moraza, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); Thuong Nguyen, University of California, Merced; Alejandrina Perez, California State University, San Jose; Joel Rocha, California State University, Fresno; Ariana Sanchez, College of the Sequoias; Elizabeth Valencia, CSUF.

· Tulare Union High School: Marina Aguilera, California State University, Fresno; Celia Cabrera, University of California, Irvine; David Hernandez, Stanford University; Elizabeth Lopez, UCLA; and Mike Ochoa, Cal Poly, Pomona.

In addition to the students and their families, guests at this year’s dinner-dance included Howard Berger, superintendent of the Tulare Joint Union High School District and board members Joe Cardoza and Adrian Holguin.

“It’s nice to receive that kind of support from our administrators and board,” HACER President Eva Murrillo said.

“A couple years ago, we invited some of the past students to come back as speakers,” Murrillo said. “One was an attorney in San Francisco and another was a graduate from Notre Dame who was working on her master’s at the University of Chicago.”

The committee that selects the scholarship winners looks at not only grades but community involvement.

“We’re trying to reach some of the top students, but there also are those who fall in the middle,” Murrillo said.

Every quarter, HACER also holds a recognition dinner for middle school and high school students who are working hard.

“It recognizes the positive things they are doing and it encourages them to keep doing well,” Rodriguez said. “I think when students and their families leave the recognition dinner, they’re really proud.”

The Cinco de Mayo celebration in downtown Tulare is another major event the organization supports in conjunction with the Tulare Improvement Program and, for the first time this year, the Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency.

The event, which Rodriguez chairs for HACER, features cultural entertainment and shows.

Like other organizations, HACER also gets requests from students and others to contribute money or otherwise help out with an academic event or other type of situation, and its members will respond, Rodriguez said.

The organization is not involved in politics, which is forbidden by its bylaws, Rodriguez said.

The organization, which has about 60 members, meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month at the high school district office, 426 North Blackstone St.

“Membership is open to anyone interested in working toward the goals of the group,” Murrillo said.

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Meet Roger Kelly — Joy's His Middle Name

Tulare - Marlene Kelly likes to tell the story about the time she and her son, Roger, were driving to Washington state and another vehicle came up along side of them on the freeway. One of the passengers held up a sign.

“Hi, Roger,” it said much to their surprise.

But when she thought about it, it wasn’t so surprising after all.

Roger Kelly is a Wal-Mart greeter known to children throughout Tulare as “sticker man,” because of the smiley face stickers he likes to give kids when they come through the door with their parents.

Others have seen him traveling through town on his scooter—he has cerebral palsy and is unable to drive a car—and more than a few have enjoyed a cup of coffee with him at Starbucks, one of his favorite stops.

“Roger can go out alone, but he doesn’t wind up alone,” his mother said.

Friend Sam Logan said that is because he is the most outgoing and friendliest person he knows.

“He is also the most joyful persons I’ve ever seen,” said Logan, who has taken Kelly to see major league baseball game in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Others think so too.

He has worked for Wal-Mart for eight years and in 2002, was named Employee of the Year by the Tulare County Mayors Committee for Employment of Persons with Disabilities.

“He’s had so many surgeries he should have a bad attitude and yet, he doesn’t,” his mother said.

No Mystery

The reason is no mystery to Roger Kelly.

“I think it has to do with the fact I’ve had a good support group,” he said. “My family has always encouraged me to go out and do stuff.”

His mother agreed.

“We’ve never treated him any differently and he was expected to be an active part of the family and no-one would baby him,” Marlene Kelly said.

As a result, Kelly’s never sat shyly on the sidelines.

He was manager of the Tulare Western High School Mustang football team when he was in school and when it came time to graduate, then-coach Tyrone Watley presented him with an award.

“All the football players stood there and applauded and I just sat there and cried,” Marlene Kelly said.

Later when he received his diploma with the Class of 1991, he got a standing ovation. The yearbook staff also dedicated the senior section to him, naming him the “Mightiest Mustang.”

“Roger is an inspiration to us all; way to go, Roger!” the staff wrote.

After graduation, he took a few courses at College of the Sequoias and then decided to look for a job.

“It was Wal-Mart who gave Roger an opportunity to have a position in their company where his personality could shine through,” Marlene Kelly said.

Roger Kelly said he has definitely found his niche as a Wal-Mart greeter.

“I love it,” he said.

Social Butterfly

Her son is both “a social butterfly” and a person who can enjoy his own company, his mother said.

He has traveled to Hawaii and major California cities. He also loves basketball and years ago played on a Telephone Pioneers wheelchair basketball team and traveled to the Napa Valley for the organization’s West Coast Sports Jamboree. He is also a member of the Elks Club in Visalia.

In 2005, he was attending a Visalia Oaks game with Logan when he decided he would like to sing the National Anthem., which he did on Aug. 21, 2005.

“I was nervous and I practiced day in and day out,” he said.

Kelly said he has found the perfect solution for those “bad days” when he may feel down or start to feel sorry for himself.

“I’ll put in the funniest movie I have,” he said. “And if I’ve had a real intense day, I’ll watch a good action movie.”

But mostly his days are good.

“He has such positive energy,” his mother said.

Logan agreed.

“He is one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever met in my life,” he said.

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