Steve Did Write to the OC Employees!!! Let's take a look!

Dear Nieces and Nephews, again the formatting issues confront your Auntie as does "the wolf at the door" in fables of old (and today). (The last page of the letter is presented with signature)

Stevie Thunder, again presents something that may, on it's face, seem like a good idea but all it takes is a few minutes of reading for one to say to themselves: "What the heck is that?"

Take a look at Stevie's letter to the OC employee populace coercing er, sorry, endorsing the SALE OF VALLEY VIEW.

And do follow the link provided to see the responses of the four potential buyers of Valley View. Take a good look at the Focus Ventures and see if you recognize what you are reading. HINT look at the Montgomery County proposal and see if you can spot any differences. Don't forget to look for the word "innovative' or some variant on every other page. Also look for "Unique", something Joey keeps saying but never really demonstrates. (You know the old political colloquialism: "Keep repeating something often enough; it becomes the truth") And you must certainly look for new references to the "expansion of services" which ultimately means a "monopoly on services". After All, Focus will transport you to the Nursing home, provide DME (durable medical equipment) to you, transport you upon discharge, provide home health care,pack you off to your "daycare" and...well, you get the picture.

Also, do enjoy "sample responses" which others may call "pick and choose" responses.

Here is the letter from Stevie Thunder:

From: ZZZZ_ceoffice
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2014 4:45 PM
Subject: A Message to Orange County Employees on the 2015 Budget

Dear Fellow Employee:

This week I will be proposing the 2015 Orange County Budget. As part of the budget, I will recommend we transfer the Valley View Center for Nursing Care and Rehabilitation to a Local Development Corporation so that its operations can be transferred to a private provider. While I understand this will upset Valley View employees, and I respect their right to be upset with that decision, it is the right thing to do for the residents of Valley View, the taxpayers of Orange County, and the many other county workers who provide important services to our residents. 

Four potential private operators for Valley View have now responded in detail to the county legislature’s questions on job preservation and healthcare quality. Sample responses to key questions from the various bidders are:

Describe your staffing plans:

Focus Ventures responded: “Focus will offer employment to all current Valley View staffers. … All in all, our approach will be to keep, improve, and add to the existing staffing plan with a constant eye on care for residents and patients.”

Will you commit to keeping existing residents at Valley View?

VestraCare responded: “Every resident has the right to receive the least restrictive modality of appropriate care. Under no circumstance would VestraCare evict a resident from its facilities … .”

What programs does Valley View presently offer that you would not offer if you acquired it?

Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services responded: “It is not Comprehensive’s intention to eliminate any of the programs at Valley View. Our goal is to fortify and enhance the facility’s existing programs … .”

What programs do your facilities offer that are not offered at Valley View? Do you plan on bringing those programs to Valley View?

Zenith Care Health Group responded: “Zenith desires to continue the existing long term care plans in place at the facility and to bring additional services, already successfully implemented at other Zenith facilities, to the building including a better oral hygiene program, in-house dialysis, cardiac therapy program, etc., and to utilize tools like tele-medicine and expansion of the range of expertise of the medical board to ensure areas of medical necessity are better covered … .”

You can read the full responses here:

http://orangecountygov.com/filestorage/1140/17716/Valley_View_Proposers%27_Responses_9-29-14.PDF

The alternatives to selling Valley View, as I see them, are as follows:

·        Layoffs would have to occur in every other county department and office. A tentative plan, if Valley View is not sold, would be to undertake over 400 job cuts, with more than 250 coming from Social Services, Health, Public Works, and the County Jail alone. 

or

 http://nursinghomes.nyhealth.gov/nursing_homes/inspection/613