Letters to the Editor 5-1-14

Dumbfounded
Editor: I have been reading the news stories and community reaction to the Palm Drive news with great interest. I have a couple reactions from what I’ve learned.
I would like to wish the best to Palm Drive. I am sure there is a place in the market for them. Unfortunately, the leadership has failed to define that operating space in the 10 years that has brought us to this point. I as a voter find this especially troubling. Not because I am any kind of an expert at running a hospital, but because I feel like public money has been wasted.
I am dumbfounded by those that promote more financial support for Palm Drive. For a community that values the ideals of renewable and efficient use of resources, it is obvious to me that Palm Drive doesn’t meet that standard.
The only thing I can figure is this is an emotional reaction to the fear of what will happen when I need medical help. There seems to be a theme in the community for emergency care. If this is something you wish to support I have an option for your money. The Sebastopol Fire Department responds to all 911 calls within Sebastopol city limits. If you would like to voluntarily tax yourself and benefit from the money you spend, I would present the Sebastopol Fire Department as an option.
The Sebastopol Fire Department operates under the modern volunteer model in the 21st century. This means a stipend is paid to those who show up to respond to a 911 request for service. Dollar-wise, this pay on demand system cannot be beat. There are challenges presented with having no scheduled workforce in place. There is other work and times when you would like to have personnel at the station. The Sebastopol fire department has addressed this by using a portion of its budget to schedule 8-hour shifts. Besides getting work done, these shifts put a firefighter at the station for eight hours, guaranteeing an available resource for a 911 emergency.
You can imagine if the budget were to increase through additional taxes, these shifts could be increased to provide more complete coverage of 911 emergencies. Having firefighters at the station lowers response times, which is a critical metric for those experiencing a 911 emergency. If you are experiencing a medical emergency we will supply basic life support and assist the advanced life support provider (the ambulance) to insure you are transported to best medical facility to provide the care you need.
Marc Simpson
Sebastopol
A sad day
Editor: On Monday Palm Drive Hospital closed its doors. For over 100 staff that has served our community well for many years, it must be a very difficult time emotionally and financially. For the thousands of us who live near the hospital and had access to a high quality emergency room it is unsettling and each of us hopes that we do not have a life-threatening emergency.
It will now take an extra 30 minutes in an ambulance to get to the nearest emergency room. I know people who are alive today who would not have survived the longer ride. I am sure we all dread the day when we hear of someone who died on the way to a hospital in Santa Rosa.
For almost a week, the District and Foundation have been negotiating to reopen the hospital. Sadly, that agreement did not come in time to prevent the closure. I hope that it will come very soon.
John Moise
Sebastopol
Emergency services
Editor: I am deeply concerned and troubled over the planned closing of our Palm Drive Hospital and Emergency Department here in Sebastopol. As Fire Chief and Fire Marshal of a community of 7,900 residents, this anticipated closure would dramatically impact public safety and emergency medical care in our community. We see thousands of visitors every year traveling through our city, and respond to numerous emergency calls of those visiting this area.
The Sebastopol Fire Department is an all-volunteer fire department, excluding the Fire Chief, and most West County Fire Departments are also made up of volunteers. We average three 911 emergency calls every day, and two-thirds of those calls are medical emergencies. Most of our patients are transported to Palm Drive Hospital for immediate care. When our patients suffer a cardiac arrest, stroke, or some form of trauma, they are transported to the nearest treating facility, Palm Drive Hospital Emergency Department. Typically on these events, 1-2 firefighters assist with patient care in the ambulance during transport. If our facility closes, we would then transport to a facility in Santa Rosa, which can take an additional 15 to 25 minutes of transport time, even with red lights and siren. This transport would deplete my staffing level to zero, leaving the city of Sebastopol in a very dangerous level of protection. This same low level would also impact the other West County fire departments. To further jeopardize our staffing levels, we would be forced to send another volunteer or myself to the Santa Rosa area hospital facility to pick up and bring back those firefighters that responded on the initial emergency call.
I am responsible for public safety and emergency care. I would not have sufficient staffing to respond to another incident in our city if my firefighters are 30 minutes away. This could be a structure fire, vehicle accident, extrication, medical emergency, rescues, a drowning, public assists, lift assists, etc.
We cannot protect those who expect us to respond when they dial 911. This service must not be tampered with or changed. It is an expectation from every citizen that “no matter what,” when they call for help, we will come!
The Palm Drive physicians have proposed to join forces with the Palm Drive Health Care Foundation. A Physician Proposal to reinvent has been submitted to the Palm Drive Hospital Board of Directors. I urge the Palm Drive Hospital Board of Directors to accept this proposal from the Foundation. It’s the right thing to do for our community, our economy and for the thousands of visitors that travel through our city. We cannot live without our hospital.
Please contact me if you have any questions at email bb****@so***.net or office phone, 823-8061.
Bill Braga
Fire Chief
Sebastopol Fire Department
Secretary/Treasurer
Sonoma County Fire Chief’s Association
Emergency void
Editor: All of us who have had Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.) or other emergency response training (or planning experience) understand that minutes make the difference between life or death (or permanent disability) in many medical situations. We also have learned from our association with the Sebastopol Fire Department that it has limited resources, despite blessed volunteers.
I believe that the closure of Palm Drive Hospital will create an ongoing emergency situation of inadequate medical (and other) response coverage in Sebastopol and West County populations (45,000). Closure will also destroy the nucleus of a local medical community and therefore reduce quality. As the rest of Sonoma County’s hospitals sink into the mud of the Rodgers Earthquake fault in the next Big One (when, not if), as highways and bridges fail, as people panic, we Sebastopolians will get to reflect on why our community couldn’t get it together to keep it together… a community of higher average income, of higher average education, of many people who — with the right leadership — will volunteer money and time to make things happen.
We understand that negotiations are proceeding between the Palm Drive Hospital Board of Directors and the Palm Drive Foundation. We expect … no we demand that these succeed. City leaders, Chamber of Commerce, business owners and residents need to join in to make this happen. Anything short of success will seriously impact not only the health but also the business environment and Sebastopol’s reputation as a great place to live. It’s a bigger issue than all the other stuff.
Tom Boag
Sebastopol
Work with Foundation
Editor: The following is an open letter to the Palm Drive District Board of Directors:
As but one of hundreds, if not thousands, of families who have benefitted from the luxury of using health care services at Palm Drive Hospital, we want you to know we have shared your pain, your dashed dreams and efforts to provide sustainable emergency and sometimes critical life-saving services for our families, neighbors, visitors and community.
Having served in every Foundation office position during the past 12 years, and my husband Bob Gillen having served on the District Board in years past, we know too well the problems which have brought us to the sadness of today.
We have worked on every Foundation and District fundraising event and community outreach activity for financial suppport. We have solicited help from our state and local representatives. We know you have done the same. Your commitment to your responsibilities as our elected Directors has been commmendable and we respect your efforts to meet almost insurmountable financial challenges. We have personally spoken to so many in West County about the work you do and how difficult it has been.
It is because we all care so much that we have seen a huge outpouring of volunteers, physicians, staff and community leaders stepping forward to find another way to keep quality emergency care available in West County. Please do not shut the door on those who want to work with you to find a new way to make this happen. We believe the proposal before you has been made in good faith and honest hard work with the intention of providing a new collaborative partnership, working together, to provide critical life saving services for all of us.
The past Foundation efforts as well as District commitments have needed financial stability to be successful. This is the time to see if we can achieve new partnerships with each other and our community so that our tomorrows will be healthy, happy and we may soon celebrate West County as providing the very best in health care. So many of us believe it can happen. Please seize the moment and join us! The future for all of our children and grandchildren will reap the rewards. Thank you for considering all that has been placed before you in these difficult recent two weeks. Together, anything is possible. Work with us please.
Heidi and Bob Gillen
Sebastopol
Justice?
Editor: Let me get this straight: It is perfectly legal to trespass, wearing only underwear and socks, (exposure?) despite the fact that the women inside choose to arm themselves with knives because of an unknown intruder. So anyone can do this trespassing without penalty? This Carrillo case proves it’s “who you know” not “what you have done.”
As citizens, we should not have to be ashamed by our politicians. Efren needs to take the high road for a change and resign. He may have charisma, but is lacking in good judgment, basic behavior standards and responsibility. Save the taxpayers the financial burden of a recall, Efren. San Diego? Santa Rosa? What is next?
Meg Brittan
Sebastopol