Grand Jury Assails Health Dept. : Report Cites Neglect at Edgemoor Geriatric Hospital

The recently disbanded San Diego County Grand Jury, which began its tenure by indicting Mayor Roger Hedgecock on charges of perjury and conspiracy, severely criticized the county Health Services Department in its final report Tuesday.

Some of the jury’s most detailed criticism was aimed at the county’s Edgemoor Geriatric Hospital in Santee, where poor elderly and invalid county residents are placed when they have no resources to go elsewhere.

Serious lapses in patient care, management and maintenance at Edgemoor nearly cost the hospital its federal license earlier this year, a move that would have cut off Medicare and Medi-Cal funds and effectively closed down the facility.

The jury complimented the “genuine dignity and caring good cheer” shown by the nursing staff at the hospital, but said it could find “no kind words for the county hierarchy which has permitted the unwanted to be swept under the rug of isolation at faraway Edgemoor.”

The jury, which disbanded June 30, issued in June a blistering report on county Chief Administrative Officer Clifford Graves. In that report, the jury stopped short of asking for his resignation, but stated that the county’s management was in “disarray” and cited problems ranging from the scandal in the purchase of a county telephone system to mismanagement of the Department of Health Services.

The jury earlier issued a similar report on the operation of the county’s mental hospital in Hillcrest, known as CMH, and said the department’s director, James Forde, should be held responsible for conditions there.

Grand Jury Foreman William T. Egan said Tuesday that he thought the problems at CMH were more extensive and detrimental to patients than those at Edgemoor.

“I think we were more effective in the case of CMH,” said the retired vice president of National Steel and Shipbuilding. “CMH was much more a disaster than Edgemoor. It’s a relatively small organization and should have been better-managed.”

Tuesday’s report said Edgemoor had been given low priority or ignored completely in the county’s “continuing budget struggle.”

“San Diego County is now paying the price of neglect by way of adverse news media coverage, erosion of public confidence and undermined employee morale,” the report said. “Edgemoor has become a difficult and embarrassing dilemma.”

The jury recommended that the county:

- Hire a competent, full-time administrator to run Edgemoor.

- Accelerate plans for rebuilding, remodeling and expanding Edgemoor.

- Establish a maintenance and repair unit at the hospital.

- Establish a complete on-site laundry.

- Expedite the filling of nursing staff vacancies.

- Improve the keeping of patient records.

- Establish an employee incentive system.

- Consider creating a student nurse intern program.

Most of the recommendations have already been approved by the county Board of Supervisors and have been implemented at the hospital.

Egan said that what disturbed him most about the problems at Edgemoor was that county staff members were aware they existed.

“Virtually everything we pointed out that was wrong with that hospital, the immediate retort by the Board of Supervisors or its staff was that they already knew about that,” he said.

Tuesday’s report offered recommendations on county issues ranging from the retention of farmland and the size of bathrooms in county parks to a proposal that a new downtown jail be built.

Although the jury found that the county’s downtown jail is well-run, it indicated that it is antiquated, and endorsed a proposed new jail. It also recommended additional funds for the County Jail at Los Colinas to establish a work-furlough program. The Las Colinas jail is for women.

The jury also recommended:

- That the City of San Diego consider permitting write-in candidates for city positions.

- That the Board of Supervisors support the retention of farmland and protect the small family farmer from the encroachment of residential and commercial development.

- That the County Parks and Recreation Department keep park restrooms clean; that small, one-person stalls be used to prevent illicit activity; that outside wash basins be installed so that young children may clean up where they can be observed, and that a park designed for disabled children be built in North County.

- That two more toxicologists be hired for the coroner’s office to eliminate delays in testing related to autopsies, some of which extend for 90 days.

In a committee report, the grand jury recommended that the supervisors support state legislation to increase funding to agencies that treat child abuse victims and their families. The committee on child abuse commended the county Department of Social Services for providing a full-time professional to work with law enforcement agencies, but asked that supervisors encourage legislation that would allow the state to go to trial immediately after a grand jury indictment on child abuse charges.