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MONDAY, OCTOBER 28- NOVEMBER 03, 2024
VOL. 8,
NO. 195
Kaiser mental health workers picket at Riverside Medical Center
PS nonprofit founder accused of stealing funds meant for transgender clients
By City News Service
By City News Service
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he head of a Palm Springs nonprofit that caters to the transgender community pleaded not guilty Wednesday to more than four dozen felony charges stemming from the alleged theft of more than $900,000 in funds provided by government entities and intended for the benefit of members. Jacob Joseph Aaron Rostovsky, 33, was indicted last week for allegedly masterminding a two-year theft scheme that involved pocketing money that was designated for Queer Works’ programs. The indictment, unsealed Wednesday, alleges 22 counts of filing fraudulent
claims, 16 counts of perjury, seven counts of money laundering, three counts of grand theft, and one count each of embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, filing a false insurance loss claim, providing false details in support of a fake insurance claim, forgery and a sentence-enhancing allegation of perpetrating multiple felonies that netted losses in excess of $500,000. Rostovsky was arraigned before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gail O’Rane, who scheduled a trial-setting conference for Jan. 23 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. The defendant is free on a $944,000 bond. “It is simply unaccept-
See Fraud Page 24 Kaiser workers picket in the High Desert. | Photo courtesy of Ricardo Ortega/X
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early 2,400 mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities were on strike Friday amid contract talks and allegations of a “broken” system of care, while Kaiser officials say the union has been “slow walking” the negotiation process and planned to strike before labor talks even began. Mental health professionals, represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, picketed from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at the following locations: -- Riverside Medical Center, 10800 Magnolia Ave., Riverside -- San Diego Medical Center, 9455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. -- Los Angeles Medical Center, 4867 W. Sunset Blvd. -- Panorama City Medical Center, 13651 Willard St. Panorama City There will be lunchtime rallies with community and elected officials at all four
sites. “This is about equity for mental health care,” Jessica Rentz, a Kaiser therapist in Fontana, said in a statement released by the National Union of Healthcare Workers. “We want to be with our patients, not on a picket line, but we can’t keep working in a system that treats mental health care like an assembly line job and denies us the time and resources to provide the care we know our patients need.” According to the union, the impacted workers include psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, addiction medicine counselors, licensed clinical counselors and marriage and family therapists who “provide behavioral health care for Kaiser’s 4.8 million members in hospitals, clinics and medical offices [and] homecare settings from San Diego to Bakersfield.”
The union’s contract with Kaiser expired Sept. 30. The labor dispute comes one year after Kaiser reached a $50 million settlement with state regulators who said the health care giant’s mental health care system lacked adequate staffing that caused lapses in access to care for patients. Kaiser officials said the organization has invested more than $1 billion since 2020 to expand its mental health capabilities in California, including hiring more therapists, the addition of resources and reductions in wait times for patients. The union, however, says shortages are still persistent in Southern California, insisting Kaiser has about one therapist for every 3,000 Kaiser members, compared to one per 2,000 in Northern California. That ratio has See Kaiser workers Page 23
limited the time available to therapists to respond to patient calls and emails, to develop treatment plans and prepare for appointments, leading to burnout and causing newly hired therapists to leave their jobs, the union contends. The union claims that one-fourth of the 1,508 mental health professionals hired by Kaiser’s Southern California region between January 2021 and September 2024 have already left their positions. Kaiser officials said in a statement that the health care system is committed to continued negotiations “until this deal is done.” But it said the union has been focused on a strike since the beginning of talks, and has been “slow-walking the negotiation process, including on the very issues the
State senator, former assemblyman vie for Riverside County supervisor seat By City News Service
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oters will decide on Nov. 5 whether former Assemblyman Jose Medina or state Sen. Richard Roth, both D-Riverside, will fill a soon-to-bevacant seat on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. Medina and Roth are contending for the District 1 supervisorial seat up for grabs with the year-end retirement of decade-long Supervisor Kevin Jeffries of Lakeland Village. In the March primary, Medina netted 25% of votes See Supervisor seat Page 23
cast to Roth’s 32%, but that was a four-way race, with the two candidates receiving the fewest votes knocked out of the running. Roth, who will term out of the state Senate this year, was an Air Force major general stationed in the area before entering politics. He spotlighted as accomplishments since 2012 securing funding for the UC Riverside School of Medicine and appropriations to increase the number of judicial officers countywide.