Thursday, February 12, 2015

John Walters, Thanksgiving in Abiding Care


Source:
John Walters Thanksgiving in Abiding Care 2013


On John Walters:

John Walters is under conservatorship with the Santa Barbara Public Guardian. In 2014 he was living in a terrible board and care home named Abiding Care where he spent all day alone in bed in his room. The food was of inferior nutrition. He couldn't hear well, and wasn't given a hearing aid. 

After I visited John Walters on Thanksgiving of 2013, a court investigator report came out that damned his son Adam's chances of taking care of his father and being his conservator.

The report stated that John's care manager, a person hired by the Public Guardian, said that on Thanksgiving I brought in matches to burn off his warts, and that he didn't have any. It also stated that she said I was screaming. In that report she is also purported to say that Adam is only interested in his father's money.

These reports are taken seriously by the judge, and at the time no-one from the Public Guardian's office who was responsible for John's welfare tried to counter this report. Also, this care manager did not contest the accuracy of the report.

In February 2018 I received a call from the care manager., She asked me to take down the post about her at NASGA. as it was inaccurate and hurting her reputation. She informed me the investigator's report that the post was based on was inaccurate, that she never said those horrible things about Adam or me, that it was instead a woman working at Abiding Care, Velma, who said those things. She also told me she would write a letter to the proper agency to counter this inaccurate and damning report.

After talking to the care manager, I  believe this report is inaccurate and malicious. But it is important as it sealed John Walter's fate. 

At the time I was shocked that the Public Guardian's office would hire someone who would make up such wild stories. I contacted the Public Guardian's office and it was claimed she didn't work for the Guardian. I contacted other local government agencies, and no-one had information on her. Finally, a representative of the Public Administrator, Kim, left a message on my answering machine that this care manager worked for John. This didn't make a lot of sense because John's under conservatorship, and doesn't have power to hire anyone. Finally, under pressure, the head of the Public Guardian's office, Arlene Diaz, admitted to me that its office was responsible for her position and paid her with John's money.

After Adam and I made quite a stink about John's situation, spoke at the Board of Supervisors, and I got an article published in the Santa Barbara News Press on the Public Guardian, John was eventually moved to another facility named Mission Villa. Owner Dana Newquist takes pride that he serves an all organic diet, and had written an article in the Montecito Journal about health improvements of his residents.

It took more time than it should have for the Public Guardian to get John out of Abiding Care, and into a better facility. The owner of Abiding Care also owns Peppers in Montecito, where Harry Olson suffered a terrible fate--he was drugged up with antipsychotics, and allowed to fall repeatedly--eventually he died. Was this allowed to happen because he was running out of money (see attached article)? 

Despite being in a better place, John is apparently so drugged up that you can't have a conversation with him. Call his son Adam at (805) 448-2615 to find out more.

Please call Harry Hagen, the Santa Barbara Public Guardian, at (805) 568-2920(or email him at 
Hhagen@co.santa-barbara.ca.us) and ask him to allow John Walters to have a hearing aid. Also ask him to have his office stop targeting and being mean to family members. Ask his office to lay off the antipsychotic drugs, to try natural alternatives, and to choose better doctors. Adam had taken his father to see a holistic doctor named Dr. Saunders, M.D., and Dr. Saunders said the drugs John was under were very harmful, that there were alternatives. As a result of Adam seeking a second opinion for his dad, Adam was targeted, and not allowed to take him out anymore. Please ask the Public Guardian to respect family members, and honor their choice for a second opinion. If you live in Santa Barbara County, tell Harry Hagan, an elected official (also public administrator and tax collector), that you won't vote for him unless John Walters and other elders get better treatment.

There are alternatives to drugs. Please refer to Mahatma Ghandi's autobiography. In it he is adamantly opposed to drugs, and talks about the side effects.. He does, however, believe in natural methods and God's healing power.

Thank you for your help,
~Bryan Rosen

4 comments:

Betty said...

Thank you, Bryan, for helping this family. Clearly John Walters has been drugged heavily. So sad.

NASGA Member said...

Very good interview. Very sad case. The son looks so very forelorn.

Anonymous said...

Another case and another family torn apart.

Thank you for posting these stories, NASGA. People have to see it for themselves to believe it.

Tina said...

You have a good and caring son, Mr. Walters.