Ott case delayed again
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Cathy Perfect
Kern Valley Sun
Former Kern Valley Hospital CEO Pamela Ott appeared in Superior Court in Bakersfield Tuesday morning to set a preliminary hearing date.
Ott, her co-defendants Gwen Hughes and Dr. Hoshang Pormir, are charged with eight felony counts of causing harm and/or death of an elder/dependent adult.
Pormir, Hughes, and Debbi Hayes were arrested Feb, 18, 2009. Hayes, former Kern Valley Hospital pharmacist, pled no contest on Aug. 14, to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit an act injurious to public health.
Hayes’ 365-day jail sentence was suspended, with credit for three days served in custody; she must pay $260 fine, and will be on probation for three years. She is a cooperating witness for the people.
Attorney General Jerry Brown charged Pormir, Hughes, and Hayes for “forcibly administering psychotropic medications for their own convenience, rather than for their patients’ therapeutic interests.” He said these actions are alleged to have resulted in the deaths of three residents.
“These people maliciously violated the trust of their patients, by holding them down and forcibly administering psychotropic medications if they dared to question their care,” Brown said. “This is appalling behavior, which amounts to assault with a deadly weapon.”
On Sept. 8, Ott was charged on eight felony counts of elder abuse. “As hospital administrator, Pamela Ott, was ultimately responsible for safeguarding the welfare of her patients,” Brown said. “Instead, Ott abdicated her responsibility and allowed the staff of the Kern Valley Hospital to forcibly sedate patients who questioned their care.”
The case came to the attention of authorities in January 2007, when an ombudsman reported to the Bakersfield office of the California Department of Public Health that a patient in the Skilled Nursing Facility had been held down and given an injection of psychotropic medication by force.
In court Tuesday morning, the defendants re-signed the papers granting them to be free on their own recognizance. The defendants are due back in court on June 22 and 23 for their preliminary hearing .
Ott is represented by James Faulkner of Bakersfield. Pormir is represented by Donald Etra of Los Angeles and Hughes is represented by Bruce Blythe of Bakersfield.
