It’s full steam ahead

On last Thursday night, the Cimarron Memorial Hospital Board moved ahead with plans to de-license the nursing home.

As painful as it is to say, I am afraid that such a drastic measure may be the only answer so that we can have some kind of medical facility in the county.

Do I trust Dave Peyok’s decision to close the nursing home? I trust Mr. Peyok as much as I’ve trusted any other CEO that Cimarron Memorial has had in the last five years, even more than I’ve trusted one or two of them.

We learned on Thursday night that the driving force to make a change so quickly and drastically. Owing the IRS one-half million dollars will do that to you. Good or ill, I’m afraid the board made the only decision they could have...one way or another, the nursing home residents were going to be inconvenienced, better that they have time to plan.

I hope for us all that it’s the right plan, and that it works, waivers and all so that as few residents as possible be disturbed and moved.

FFFFF

In last week’s paper, I made some errors.

On page one, in the Cimarron Memorial article, I paraphrased Keren Jannsen by saying That:

...few if any residents would have to actually leave the facility. - Italics and emphasis mine.

She correctly pointed out that would only be the case if the waiver came through.

I also had the wrong time for the Thursday meeting.

By answering in person a call from Ms. Janssen to The Boise City News, she respectfully asked that in the future stories be cleared by either the hospital administration or the board, adding that she understood I had done this in the past. (And I had on limited basis.)

I told Ms. Janssen that I was concerned that by doing that, the hospital would be trying to shape the news.

She explained that compromising journalistic integrity wasn’t their intention, but that if in the future errors in a story were to happen that it could cause tension with the facility.

I replied by saying why don’t we take it at a case by case basis? She agreed.

I offered to print retractions to my errors, (on the front page). She declined the offer.

Upon writing today’s article I took it to Janssen’s office for her to look over. She returned it with what I considered to be editorial changes. The changes she recommended I have included in the story, however, I did refuse to pull quotation marks from around one statement.

Janssen then informed me that if I left the quote in that she would refuse to speak in front of me again, and that she would respond to the article.

That’s her privilege, however, since I try to attend all the hospital meetings it will make the transfer of information to the board much more difficult. She can speak within the walls of executive session, (if it’s on the agenda), but, Cimarron Memorial has had enough secrets we don’t need anymore.