San Diego Showed Up
San Diego showed up. An estimated three thousand people marched along University Avenue on Saturday morning, as protestors voiced the need for change in policing across the country. The march ended at the Pride Flag in Hillcrest, where speakers set up to continue the "positive" momentum that had been building throughout the day. 21-year-old Bobby was one of the marchers. He didn't want his last name used, but told us he is an EMT and worked as a street medic at other protests this week. He thinks this is really a turning point for the movement against police violence. A lot more people are vocal, a lot more people are bringing it to their friends instead of just posting on social media. A lot of people are doing things. That was just one of a number of protests all around the county over the weekend. There were big protests in Santee Sunday and peaceful demonstrations, marches and other events throughout the weekend. KPBS reporters fanned out across the region on Saturday and Sunday. One of the protests was a 300-car protest caravan organized by Black Lives Matter Organizers say the caravan purposefully visited various sites across San Diego County where people of color have experienced police violence. Beth Carpenter was cheering on the caravan on National Boulevard, across from the National City Police Department, where Earl McNeil slipped into a coma and later died after being taken into custody by police. Carpenter: I think that people are fed up. I think that people know that this is not justice and I think they've reached their limit. State violence is something that black and brown people have experienced since the inception of this country. *** In recent days, a group of armed vigilantes in Santee have stood watch outside local shopping centers. They said they’re responding to protests that have broken out in the area against police violence. Some of the vigilantes posted a video to social media, claiming the group has the backing of law enforcement. But, in a statement given to KPBS, the Sheriff’s Department said it knows about the claims, but, quote, nothing could be further from the truth.” *** This week, expect to see some beach parking lots open back up after being closed because of the pandemic. Individual coastal communities can enforce stricter regulations on their own, so it’s recommended to check specific beach locations before heading out. And California Gov. Gavin Newsom has released information about the next stage of businesses allowed to reopen, some as soon as the end of this week. It includes gyms, indoor museums, hotels, card rooms, wineries, day camps, campgrounds, family entertainment centers like bowling alleys -- zoos, bars, TV and film production and even professional sports….but without spectators. *** From KPBS, I’m Kinsee Morlan and you’re listening to San Diego News Matters, a podcast powered by our news reporters, producers and editors. It’s Monday, June 8. Stay with me for more of the local news you need. About a year ago, La Mesa residents started putting together a citizen taskforce to help keep the police department accountable. Then, the pandemic hit and the work was put on hold. In the aftermath of last weekend's protests, KPBS Reporter Joe Hong spoke to La Mesa residents and city officials about why that work is important now more than ever. Leroy Johnson is a community advocate and a resident of La Mesa. In February, he and other residents formed a temporary task force to create more oversight of the La Mesa Police Department. The goal was to create a permanent committee that reviews personnel records of officers who have been accused of misconduct as well as other internal investigations. LEROY JOHNSON // COMMUNITY ADVOCATE We're looking at having an oversight committee where we actually have some input into the correct use of the police force and that there's some accountability and that the things that happen aren't just being reviewed by the chief of police because that's the situation we have right now. But the work was suspended when the pandemic hit, and the city wouldn't allow the task force to hold even virtual meetings. After the events of the past week, Johnson hopes the city finally sees the urgency. La Mesa Mayor Mark Arapostathis said he wholeheartedly supports more citizen oversight over the police department. MARK ARAPOSTATHIS /// LA MESA MAYOR … but the entire city council is committed to moving forward with citizen oversight and transparency. Arapostathis said the task force will resume meetings in June. That’s KPBS reporter Joe Hong. While the rest of the country begins to open up, the Navy continues to update its own response to the coronavirus, with policies that lean heavily on isolation and bubbling. The Navy has tried to learn from a recent embarrassing episode, when the virus spread uncontrollably through the carrier the USS Roosevelt. KPBS Military Reporter Steve Walsh has the story. 4:03 On April 23, a sailor from the USS Kidd was diagnosed with COVID-19 - the second outbreak on board a navy ship. Commander Michael Kaplan was at the Navy medical center in Jacksonville, Florida. His team was flown to El Salvador, where the Navy Destroyer was anchored off the coast. 00;07;28;20 "So we were there within hours of that first positive test result." By the time they arrived, the ship's medical team had isolated 20 to 30 sailors who were showing symptoms. 00;04;05;10 "It was actually kind of a surreal situation. We really didn't have much time to think about what we were getting into, which is probably a good thing. Not too many people would want to run into a burning building and that's probably the best analogy." AND NOT AN OVERSTATEMENT -- The Navy has had the most cases of any of the services. Roughly half of its more than 2,000 cases come from outbreaks on board two ships -- the carrier USS Roosevelt and a month later onboard the USS Kidd. One of the lessons learned from the Roosevelt - the Navy moved quickly to track down everyone who was sick on board the KIDD. Again, Navy doctor Michael Kaplan. 00;09;55;17- "That was exactly our plan. Try to test 100 percent of the crew, as quickly as possible. So we worked 24/7, round the clock, from the moment that we got there until the time we left. And it took us about 3 ½ days to get everybody on board, over 300 people, tested." The Pentagon is now loosening coronavirus restrictions, but the Navy remains particularly vulnerable to an outbreak. Keeping the virus away from sailors is a constant challenge. The new Navy buzz-phrase is "creating the bubble" -- They isolate sailors in small groups. SOUND In May, Navy SEALs used the bubble to justify reopening portions of its notoriously grueling basic training, including hell week. In this 2011 footage of Seal training, cadets are shown being pushed to the brink of collapse. Commodore Bart Randal says the Navy can keep sailors crammed together during training because the cadets are isolated from other classes, and the rest of the base. NAVY Lessons SEALS training.wav "Those guys, the bubble is solid. But we are increasing all the social distancing in our classrooms, in the chow halls. There are some things, we're not going to change these standards though. We're not changing the quality of training." The Navy is still ramping up testing. It's been a struggle. The Naval Health Research Center was granted authority to test by the CDC on February 12. But it took another two weeks before hospitals figured out a process for getting samples to the lab, says Dr. Chris Meyers. NAVY LESSONS Lab.wav "The case definition was very limiting. You had to have specific travel to Wuhan China or other limitations or at least contact with someone who met the covid definition. So meeting that narrow case definition may have been problematic in the beginning." With each month, the tests themselves are getting faster. The tests used on the Kidd showed results in 15 minutes, says Dr. Kaplan, who responded to the initial outbreak. Testing is still the only way to find out if people have the virus, but who don't show symptoms -- that includes roughly half of the some 90 cases found on the Kidd. 00;05;32;02 "A ship is a tough place to have an outbreak. Again we were able to implement a number of steps to try to mitigate the spread. Hopefully other ships in the future are going to make it part of the standard operating procedure. Such as increasing the frequency of cleaning in common areas." The Navy is also keeping vessels at sea to prevent the crew from coming into contact with the virus. The carrier USS Nimitz is currently in San Diego, but sailors are not allowed off the ship. The entire crew were sequestered in Washington state for nearly a month prior. When they leave San Diego, ports of call will be canceled. Even pilots that fly in to deliver supplies will have to be isolated for two weeks to preserve the Navy's new bubble. And that was KPBS military reporter Steve Walsh. *** People in nursing homes have been the most vulnerable to the coronavirus, accounting for over 40 percent of the deaths in California. In San Diego County, the two nursing homes with the most COVID-19 cases have been cited by the state dozens of times over the last few years for poor care. KPBS Investigative Reporter Amita Sharma examined the records. (track 1) We don't know their names or faces. But we have glimpses of their lives at Avocado Post Acute Care in El Cajon. (B-roll of Avocado and people milling about) Records show several seniors there have been abused by staff and by other residents. One older man fell 16 times in one year. At least two mentally impaired people escaped. More than 150 drug tablets belonging to a resident went missing. So did a man's dentures. Another man was abandoned midway through a diaper change and left exposed. And one resident's bed sores were left...inappropriately treated. (GRAPHIC 1- REQUEST DONE) 12:47 "To me, this screams problems. " Brian Lee, executive director of the Families for Better Care, says he's stunned by the breadth of the facility's problems. (BROLL OF LEE TALKING) As of the first week of June, there were 37 complaints filed against Avocado this year with the California Department of Public Health, six times the statewide average(6). Over the previous three years, more than 400 complaints were filed against the facility and 84 of those were substantiated by state inspectors. (GRAPHIC 2 - REQUEST DONE) They found evidence of falsified records, abuse of residents by staff, inadequate staffing levels and poor infection control. (GRAPHIC 3 - REQUEST DONE) Avocado's problems worsened this spring. As of the first week of June, 137 residents and staff at Avocado have been stricken with COVID-19, by far the highest number for any nursing home in the county. Again Lee. (BROLL OF AVOCADO AND ANY FOOTAGE YOU GOT OF PEOPLE MILLING AROUND THE PLACE) 13:08 "I'd be concerned if I had a loved one at that facility, I'd be deeply concerned." The San Diego County nursing home with the second highest number of cases as of the first week of June, 93 among residents and staff, is Country Hills Post Acute, also in El Cajon. (BROLL OF COUNTRY HILLS) Like Avocado, complaints against Country Hills far exceed the statewide average for the last two years. The facility has been flagged for infection control, broken call lights for residents and hiring workers with a history of abuse and neglect of residents. The inspectors also discovered the facility had no pest control plan to deal with mice and insects. (GRAPHIC 4 - REQUEST DONE) Under a federal five-star rating system, Avocado is rated as a one star facility. Country Hills has a two star rating. Neither responded to requests for comment from KPBS. (Show actual ratings on website) (Avocado Post Acute rating on the following link: https://www.medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare/profile.html#profTab=0&ID=555076&cmprID=555076&loc=EL%20CAJON%2C%20CA&lat=32.7947731&lng=-116.9625269&name=AVOCADO%20POST%20ACUTE&cmprDist=0.6&Distn=0.6 (Country Hills Post Acute rating on the following link: https://www.medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare/profile.html#profTab=0&ID=555431&cmprID=555431&loc=EL%20CAJON%2C%20CA&lat=32.7947731&lng=-116.9625269&name=COUNTRY%20HILLS%20POST%20ACUTE&cmprDist=3.0&Distn=3.0) Sacramento lawyer Wendy York, who sues senior care facilities on behalf of families, says the volume, types and repeated complaints against both Avocado and Country Hills can only mean regulators are not doing their job. (B-roll of York talking from Zoom interview/b-roll of Avocado and Country Hills) 13:13 "We need to improve our government oversight of the facilities. And we need more transparency. There has to be accountability." In an email, state health officials say they take every complaint and substantiated violation at nursing homes seriously. But would not comment on "any potential relation between a facility's compliance history and potential COVID-19 outbreaks." (Broll of the California Department of Public Health) Deborah Pacyna, director of public affairs for the California Association of Healthcare Facilities which represents nursing homes, says "you can't draw a straight line between complaints and COVID-19 outbreaks." (broll OF CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF HEALTHCARE FACILITIES WEBSITE AT https://www.cahf.org/ and GRAPHIC 5-REQUEST ) Experts say the extensive complaint history of Avocado and Country Hills ultimately means that residents aren't getting the care they need. Lee of Families for Better Care says it's time for regulators to threaten the nursing homes' bottom line. (More BROLL OF AVOCADO AND COUNTRY HILLS AND BROLL OF LEE TALKING) 18:13,"They can cite them with fines. They can sanction them." State and federal regulators have fined Avocado nearly $35,000 in recent years. The state has fined Country Hills $17,000. Investigative reporter Amita Sharma. *** And now for the part of the show where we hear from people like you who listen to the podcast. We are currently collecting voices of protesters across the city. If you’re out there protesting, marching and otherwise showing up at the historic events, take a minute and call 619-452-0228 and leave a voicemail saying who you are, what neighborhood you live in and why you’re out there doing what you’re doing. Thanks. And Thanks for listening.
