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SACRAMENTO – State Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) announced Monday that she has asked the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) to investigate the adequacy of health care and accommodation of residents’ disabilities at the California Veterans Home in Yountville.
“It is an embarrassment that our veterans, who served our country honorably, have been treated so poorly in their time of need,” declared Wiggins. “This audit will serve as a blueprint to correct deficiencies and bring back the high standards of care our veterans so richly deserve.
“Residents and staff have reported a wide range of issues, including disabled residents that have been left unattended lying in their feces, visually-impaired veterans who have been unable to ascertain their food choices in the mess hall or decipher home communications, and inadequacy of medical equipment resulting exacerbating injuries and perhaps death,” Wiggins said.
In her letter to the JLAC chair, Wiggins said that based on the volume and diversity of complaints that have come from residents of the home, as well as testimony by Dr. David Salopek, chairman of the Yountville Veterans Home Allied Council at an April 24, 2007 hearing of the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee, she “lacks confidence that the California Department of Veterans Affairs is meeting its mission, goals, or vision relating to the health care and quality of life at the Yountville Veterans Home.”
“Residents have also complained of violations of their residents’ rights, disrespect for residents and their quality of life issues,” Wiggins added. “Physicians have reported the assignment of an excessive number of patients, leading to doctor burn-out and potentially inadequate care. The last thing we’d want to see is a Walter Reed type of situation at Yountville.”
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee is charged with ascertaining facts, and making reports and recommendations to the Legislature concerning the state, its agencies, departments and political subdivisions of the state. Independently, and through the State Auditor, JLAC investigates, studies, analyzes and assesses the financial practices and the performance of existing governmental and/or publicly created entities in California – in order to assist those entities in fulfilling the purpose for which they were created by the Legislature.
The committee is comprised of seven members of the Senate (including Wiggins), and seven members of the Assembly.
In her letter, Wiggins asked JLAC to direct the office of the State Auditor to investigate and then report its findings and recommendations on the following:
The adequacy of the number of physicians and other medical personnel needed to provide adequate care to the Home’s population;
Complaints by residents and personnel;
The Home’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, with emphasis on accommodation of the mobility impaired and the visually impaired;
The need for a hospital and health care administrator dedicated exclusively to coordinating and managing all health care facilities and related personnel (note: Wiggins is carrying a bill, SB 565, to create the position);
The absence of a skilled nursing facility administrator at Yountville (the Department of Veterans Affairs established the position, but then redirected it away from Yountville);
Personnel shortages and the quality of health care;
Utilization and enforcement of the Code of Conduct by the Home’s administration.
“Providing high-quality long term care for America’s heroes, our state’s elderly and infirm veterans should be a top priority for California,” Wiggins said. “We are requesting that this audit be given priority status with the Auditor General to insure that our veterans quickly receive the care they have so rightfully earned. This audit will be a valuable tool to help us determine what actions, we as policymakers and the Department of Veterans Affairs, need to make.”
The Yountville Veterans Home is a 550-acre community of and for veterans. Some 1,200 veterans (both men and women) live at the home.
Founded in 1884, Yountville is the oldest and largest veteran’s home in the United States. It currently provides 713 residential accommodations, 48 residential care (assisted living) accommodations and three levels of in-patient health care: 169 beds for intermediate care, 230 beds for skilled nursing care, and 20 beds in general acute care. July 2007 marked the opening of the new Alzheimer’s/dementia unit, which will ultimately accommodate 75 residents.
On its Web site, the California Department of Veterans Affairs says its mission is “to provide the state's aged or disabled veterans with rehabilitative, residential, and medical care and services in a home-like environment at the California Veterans Homes.”
The site also indicates that the department’s vision is that “California veterans will live the highest quality of life with dignity and honor,” with the goal of providing “high quality advocacy and services for all California Veterans; provide the best long-term care and enhanced quality of life for all State Veterans Home residents; maintain effective communication with all staff and stake holders; and use resources wisely.”
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
California Highway Patrol Officer Josh Dye reported Monday afternoon that Sally A. Waddell, 51, of Clearlake Oaks was the fatality in the collision, which took place at around 8:43 p.m. Sunday north of Diener Drive.
As Lake County News previously reported, Waddell was traveling northbound on Highway 29 in a Hyundai Accent when her vehicle crossed the double-yellow lines and collided head-on with 43-year-old Sonoma resident Tina Hendry in her 1998 Chevy 2500 pickup.
A third vehicle went into a ditch to avoid the accident, which was spotted by CHP Officer Mark Barnes, who was on his way to the Lake County Jail to deliver an arrestee, according to Dye.
Waddell died at the scene; Dye said Hendry and three passengers in her truck received minor injuries.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation, Dye said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
California Highway Patrol Office Josh Dye reported late Sunday that CHP Officer Mark Barnes came upon the crash, on Highway 29 north of Diener Drive, at 8:43 p.m.
Barnes, who was traveling northbound on Highway 29 while transporting an arrestee to the Lake County Jail, saw vehicles blocking the roadway and advised dispatch that he was at the scene of a traffic collision, Dye reported.
A 51-year-old woman from Clearlake Oaks was driving a Hyundai Accent northbound on Highway 29 when, for unknown reasons, her vehicle swerved across the double yellow lines and collided head-on with a 1998 Chevy 2500 driven by Tina Hendry, 43, of Sonoma who was traveling southbound, according to Dye.
A third, unidentified vehicle had been following the Chevy, and Dye said that vehicle narrowly avoided the collision when the driver evasively maneuvered the vehicle into a ditch.
The Clearlake Oaks woman died at he scene; Dye said her name has not been released pending notification of family.
Four other people were reportedly riding in the other vehicle involved, according to the CHP incident logs.
Along with the CHP, Lake County Sheriff's units responded to the scene to assist with traffic control and coroner's duties, Dye said.
Caltrans reportedly closed the road at Highway 29 and Diener and Highway 29 and Highway 281 while emergency personnel responded to the scene. Dye said the highway was closed for two hours while the scene investigation took place.
Two flatbed tow trucks responded to the scene to remove the vehicles involved for evidence, according to the CHP log.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Sonoma County Sheriff's Office investigators reported finding the body of Lauren Rutz, 22, on Sunday, the victim of an apparent vehicle accident.
As Lake County News reported Sunday, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office issued a report on seeking information on the whereabouts of Rutz, who was driving from San Francisco to Kelseyville Saturday when she went missing.
Rutz reportedly resided in both the Sebastopol area and Kelseyville,
Her mother had reported hearing from her at 2:45 a.m. Saturday during a cell phone conversation, as Lake County News previously reported. Cell phone records had indicated that Rutz was in the Windsor area at the time of the phone call.
On Sunday at approximately 1 p.m., the Sonoma County Sheriff's Helicopter was conducting a search along possible routes that Rutz could have used on her way from the San Francisco area to Kelseyville, according to a Sonoma County Sheriff's Office report.
The helicopter crew spotted vehicle debris and a vehicle off of Highway 101, south of Asti, according to the report. The vehicle was well off the roadway, in a ditch near a vineyard in dense vegetation.
The vehicle was not visible from the roadway to passing motorists or deputies who had driven through the area earlier as part of a ground search, the report stated, and turned out to be the Toyota RAV4 Rutz was driving.
Rutz, the vehicle's only occupant, was found dead in the vehicle and positively identified, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office reported.
The circumstances surrounding the vehicle accident are being investigated by the California Highway Patrol, the report added.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson