00:08:00 - 00:08:07 "DPS (internal hospital police force) is on my ass! They wrote me up, made all kinds of lies and falsified threats on me so I don't have any respect for DPS."  

00:08:19 - 00:08:23 "These people are corrupt."

00:08:37 - 00:09:17 "The system is so big, and so out of control, and so  many employees who have unions that it is almost impossible to get rid of the people  who are doing bad things. What they do, it's easier to attack the people who are doing  the right things … they are the ones who come under the radar, O.K.… You talk about  my case and your case, whenever you bring light to this wrong doing, there are so  many people doing it, they can't get rid of everyone so they basically turn a blind eye.  The Psych Techs are running this whole hospital - that's illegal! Psych Techs tell the  doctors what to do and if you don't do what they tell you what to do, then they figure  out a way to get you out!"

00:09:36 - 00:11:06 Dr. Kecskes then Informs patient G that he has only  scratched the surface (in terms of the corruption/abuse he has uncovered at CSH): "You  have no idea how much you scratched just the surface, see you just like scratched the  surface; you scratched the surface and you started smelling shit - CORRUPTNESS -  you keep digging deeper, they are going to try and hurt you! You scratched the  surface by uncovering a lot of stuff that is happening wrong, about people dying here,  people not having proper transportation; as soon as you scratched that surface it  came up as an issue. They discussed it in several of the doctors meetings; the issue  about the transportation - men not having seat belts, not having air conditioning,  people sweating, people dying, NOBODY'S CARING, that did get some attention, then  it kinda went back down - underground again. So you are scratching the surface,  because I'm gonna tell you: the layers of shit is pretty deep. One thing about shit that2  I know - one thing about shit, if you leave it in a pile and you don't mess with it, it just  won't stink as bad. Once you dig around, dig around, and dig around, everybody can  smell it and that's what happened. YOU ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING TO PROBABLY  HELP THE HOSPITAL BY EXPOSING SOME OF THE THINGS, AND BY ME JUST  TALKING TO YOU, I DON'T KNOW, THAT'S WHY I ASKED YOU IF THEY LISTEN TO  THESE CONVERSATIONS BECAUSE THEY MIGHT SAY SHE IS TRYING TO EGG HIM  ON. I'M NOT TRYING TO EGG YOU ON, I'M JUST VALIDATING THAT YOU BROUGHT  UP SOME VERY VALID ISSUES AND IF THEY WANT TO LOOK AT THAT AS BEING  MANIC, I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU MANIC."

00:12:32 - 00:12:50 Dr. Kecskes reports that she was asked by Dr. Risley to  take over Unit 9 (patient G's unit at the time): "One of the things that came up yesterday,  Risley told me that she is really burnt out and tired, she asked me to take over this  unit. I told her I didn't think I could do that. One of the reasons why I know I can't is I  would have to back-track all the shit they put on you....and that's gonna make some  people HOT!"

00:28:53-00:31:00 "Yesterday I told them I was going to quit. I am  seeing Dr. Withrow today, um because, they are just, they are trying to investigate me  for trivial shit. Why would you spend thousands of dollars and months trying to hang  a doctor; you can't even get doctors to work here. They just don't like the fact that  people say hi to me in the hallway, the fact that I'm smiling, that I seem happy to come  to work, that I try to help people, and the more I try to help people, it's like the more  they are gonna make lies on me. I'm like, oh' my god, I'm hated that much?! I think  Jesus Christ was hated less than that, wasn't he?" Patient G asks how we get  someone to listen about what's happening at the hospital? "Well, that's something I'm  trying to figure out. Corruptness is so deep, when you call someone they go back and  tell Dr. Withrow one of your staff called about this, can you please look into it. To  expose what's happening, somebody on the outside who doesn't work here, like that  Willow Green (Fresno, Public Radio personality who was found dead 8 hours before a  radio show with patient G), that was really weird. THAT SCARED ME! THAT SCARED  ME! When you told me Willow Green died, you told me that, you saw I literally almost shook like a leaf."

00:32:16 - 00:33:04 Patient G reminds Dr. Kecskes about her statement that  Psych Techs are running Coalinga State Hospital, and that they tell the doctors what they  can and cannot do. She replies: "I've learned over the last 48 hours alone, if I want to  survive here, I really have to fly so fuckin' far below the radar my belly is skimming the  earth! The radar is here...I gotta fly stealth mode 24/7! So I come in, the first thing I do  is I hide out in the call room, or I don't answer my phone, I check my e mail and go  somewhere else....because I'm scared!

00:35:25 - 00:35:38 "I don't want them to try and pit me against you, I  want to be free to speak and not be a part of this whole minutia. Remember I told you  about shit, digging' around and digging' around, that's o.k., but make sure you don't  get the people who are helping you involved."

00:00:00-00:17:24 Patient G extensively discusses bringing the FBI into CSH, a plan to reduce the SVP population through a process called de-escalation.

00:17:25-00:18:05 Patient G asks if Mr. Baerg will assist with an FBI investigation if they call him: "I think it just kinda depends on substantive. The vast majority of what goes on around here is more about attitude AND THE FACT THAT IT'S NOT A THERAPEUTIC ATTITUDE AND ONGOING JUST LACK OF CARING and weather that rises to the level of a prosecutable crime or not is, I don't know, I'll tell ‘em what I know. Whether it actually is something they can prosecute, I have no idea."

00:19:48-00:21:21 Patient G reminds Mr. Baerg of his claim that supervisors admonished him that the hospital paperwork had priority over the patients. Patient G asked Mr. Baerg if this was true. "Um-hum, pretty much; I would be happy to tell the FBI that. You just gotta remember that the systems response to all this is, unless they clear house and fire everybody, which they're not gonna be able to do, they are gonna bring in some oversight program, they are just going to add more paperwork and it's crazy! I just went through the Enhancement Plan (U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division) like a year ago and all they did was add more paperwork and bullshit to us. It did not help us get anything better; the paperwork looked better and they left singing their praises. I wasn't in on the last meeting but I saw someone who was and their saying 'Oh we've fully embraced the Wellness & Recovery model (WRP), and we were like the best thing on planet earth. It was all a load of horse shit."

00:21:40-00:29:24 "To be honest with you, the only way...and again, I'm no expert in this whole process. I've never been involved in any major systemic wide change, I mean I was able to change one policy in our department recently and that took a whole hell of a lot of work, and who knows how long they'll stick with it? At least all the materials are there and we got the official sanction of the Chief. But, um, my personal opinion is - being a non-expert in the big, huge, giant change of institutions, is I think you gotta, like fire everybody from Program management up and replace them all with people who are clinically orientated, who are prioritizing the patients. And then you have to give them the ability to fire line level staff who aren't gonna fall in line. And the problem is you are going to be fighting unions at that  point,such as: "WE HAVE SENIORITY, WE'VE BEEN HERE 20 YEARS." Ya! You've been here 20 years and abusing patients the whole damn time! Get your ass out of here! And that's gonna be complicated because there are gonna be lawsuits about all that kind of stuff. Can you imagine, we've had a couple of people on our unit that you, and like 90% of the patients complained about who shall remain nameless, can you imagine ever training that person to be a decent human being and care?! They don't, they don't, they won't, their just a blockhead when it comes to that kind of thing. The ONLY way to deal with them is to get ‘em out. And the problem is unless they violate some flagrant rule, it's almost impossible to get them out."

00:32:07-00:38:14 Patient G points out a very important and pivotal issue involving the fact that a majority of CSH staff view patients at CSH as irredeemable. The usually unspoken message patients get very clearly from their interactions with administrators, level of care, and clinical staff, is that they are irredeemable despite anything bureaucrats or hospital staff may claim to the contrary. Treatment is not a path back to society for most patients, it is an illusion; most staff believe that the patients will always be "bad" people and are irredeemable and unforgivable because of their past. Though staff try to hide these feelings and beliefs, it permeates their attitude toward patients when interactions take place. Mr. Baerg did not hesitate when he agreed with patient G stating: "I agree with you. I think on that issue, the redeemable issue is a very important point; I absolutely believe that."

​Kecskes, Diane Dr.
(Former Staff Psychiatrist, worked at CSH several years & left in 2015)
Total Recording Time 00:47:18

00:00:00-00:08:21 Patient G called the Fresno FBI office asking to speak with an Agent who he could refer all his CSH staff sources to. The FBI Duty Agent was rude and refused even give her name. She told Patient G she did not believe anything he had to say because he was a patient at the hospital. She could not imagine why a nurse would tell him that another nurse was forging prescriptions. She stated: "Have the nurse call us!" Then hung-up on patient G.

00:09:30-00:10:07 "Audrey King (CSH Executive Director) doesn't know what's going on in the hospital because she never comes around. If somebody  asked me if I think they know what's going on, I'd ask "how?" because I never see them and I know damn well they're not getting the skinny every day from the video cameras or from the Unit Supervisors where it's supposed to come from."

00:10:38-00:16:05 "It's illegal to take a patients side against staff who is being mean or abusive towards a patient; if you do so, you are removed the unit, you're done! It's not legal, you can't do it. They will put you under investigation. It's against hospital policy, and if I'm not mistaken, I forgot the repercussions, been a long time since I read it; it is against hospital policy for a staff member to take a side of a  patient against another staff member unless irrefutable something or other.... or another. We get those type of staff off our unit, but the problem with that is they are just moved to another unit. What fuckin' good does that do anybody? We keep our little hole clean because we don't want people sniffing around and knowing. Peer pressure means that if you take that stand for a patient, for the rest of the time you're  here you are pretty much gonna be treated like a patient. We had a staff member, that  black mother fucker Casper who was completely antagonizing patient Veizaga, challenged the patient to go in back room and fight where there were no cameras. We saw Casper on the hallway cameras pointing down to the group room (challenging patient Veizaga to fight); I had to help the cops review the video. The patient was put  in seclusion improperly for that shit. I went to the Unit Supervisor, Aldo, but there isn't much he can do. The same thing happens to a Unit Supervisor if he takes a  patient side, they'll put his ass in the roasting pan."

00:17:08-00::21:21 "When staff write Serious Incident Reports (SIR's) on patients, they never describe staff misconduct which may have contributed to, or how  staff may have antagonized the patient in a manner that resulted in the incident. In the incident where staff member Casper challenged patient Veizaga to fight in a back room, they would have charged Veizaga with "assault" if he and staff member Casper  actually went to the back room and fought. It is common practice for staff to document patient behavior in this hospital in a manner which is false, embellished, or taken out of context. This doesn't happen anywhere else”

Audio Recordings

And paraphrased index

This is a paraphrased index of voice recordings which were made by patient G of various staff at Coalinga State Hospital. This index identifies where in each recording staff can be heard making specific and generalized allegations (many criminal in nature) of deficiencies at the hospital involving management, patient abuse or neglect, including a prevailing anti-therapeutic environment that is inconsistent with the hospitals overall mission and purpose They are also heard speaking about a code of silence and the retaliation/consequences staff experience if they report hospital deficiencies or various forms of corruption. (Pursuant to California Penal Code, Section 633.5, these recordings were made WITHOUT the knowledge or consent of the persons recorded.) 

Rabaut, Chuck
(Former Police Chief/Special Investigator at CSH 6 years. Retired around 2012)
Total Recording Time 00:14:37 

​​FBI, Fresno Office
Total Recording Time 00:08:21

Staff & Law Enforcement

This section contains recordings of statements made by various CSH staff and Law Enforcement officials.  

This collection represents a portion of what is present in the recording archives.

00:00:00-00:04:02 Patient G informs Mr. Berard of the upcoming radio show with Willow Green on 88.1 FM, Fresno. Patient G asks Mr. Berard to go rouge and run his own secret investigation of CSH. Patient G also asks Mr. Berard to secure the CSH internet traffic records, and other CSH reports.

Baerg, Steve
(Former CSH Social Worker for 5 years)​
Total Recording Time 00:38:14

​Pica, Thomas
(Current hospital police officer and police officer's union rep, 10 years)
Total Recording Time 00:12:04

Berard, Andrew
(Current CSH Police Lieutenant since 2005)
- 3 of 3, Go Rogue And Secure CSH Records as Evidence -
Total Recording Time 00:04:01

​Berard, Andrew
(Current CSH police Lieutenant, employed since 2005)
- 1 of 2, in re DSH Director, Pam Ahlin, Appointing Unqualified Friends to CSH -
positions
Total Recording Time 00:08:22

00:13:08-00:13:53 Patient G tells Mr. Halonski that staff would hate him if he testified favorably/truthfully at patient G's forced medication hearing: "They sure would! If you show a modicum of empathy or compassion in this place, you have just put a target on your head, and that's a fact! Like I said, you're better off having someone on the inside rather than testify for you one time and then be cut out of the loop."

00:14:04-00:14:50 Patient G asks Mr. Halonski to work from the inside and keep notes on what he sees going on wrong at CSH: "I would fill up 98 notebooks a month if I kept track of all that goes on around here!"

00:16:15-00:17:21 "Staff who have left the hospital are demoralized. The hospital has never been a caring or therapeutic environment. It has become the accepted norm to abuse patients and nobody says anything about it."

00:04:58-00:09:47 Patient G broaches the issue of the patients versus staff, and the hospital management, atmosphere & environment at CSH, little therapeutic collaboration on a day to day basis between patients and level of care staff. Hundreds of experienced staff have fled their employment at the facility and those positions have been back-filled by KIDS in their early 20's WITH NO LIFE EXPERIENCE: "It is a cycle and I agree we are definitely in a downswing. You are certainly not the first person to notice this (KIDS running hospital). That very point has been brought up in several venues." Patient G points out that large numbers of men at CSH have no hope and men with no hope are dangerous; this will likely result in a patient eventually killing a staff member.

00:09:48-00:10:48 Patient G questions Mr. Berard as to if he really understands what is going on at CSH. Patient G questions if what he has shared with Mr. Berard is being taken seriously? "I take everything you have shared with me seriously; there are different levels of seriousness. At the same time, I want you to realize that if I didn't think you were worth listening to, I wouldn't answer the phone - I wouldn't even take the time to talk to you."

​Johnson, Debra
(Currently Behavior Specialist, runs forced medication hearings. At CSH 8+years)
Total Recording Time 00:09:17

Berard, Andrew
(Current CSH police Lieutenant, employed since 2005)
- 2 of 2 In Re Staff vs. Patients, Kids Running Hospital, Patient G Worth Talking To -
Total Recording Time 00:17:06

00:00:00-00:02:39 Patient G asks Lieutenant Berard about his previous statement that Pam Ahlin, former CSH Executive Director, current Director for the California Department of State Hospitals, appointed her unqualified friends to critical CSH management positions: "It wasn't criminal. Now, granted, things could have been a lot different if she would have paid attention, and promoted those people who were absolutely, ya know, qualified or deserving of the job....things may have been different. In my belief, we would not have near the problems we do if we had qualified people in the positions. When the qualified staff complained about being passed over, their complaints only went so far. It wasn't criminal and there is no recourse for those staff because what Pam did wasn't illegal. It definitely suggests she should not be the Director of State Hospitals, in my opinion."

00:00:00-00:09:17 Patient G confronts Ms. Johnson about her role in a forced medication hearing process which was initiated to punish patient G for calling state senators. Patient G confronts Ms. Johnson about how he was not allowed to speak during the hearing, nor was he allowed to present evidence or call witnesses, and this was criminal abuse. Ms. Johnson confirms all this and states that the only patient she has seen abused in as forced medication hearing was Mr. G: "REMEMBER HOW SIDNEY PICARDO WOULD CUT YOU OFF AND NOT LET YOU SPEAK? WE HAVE CHANGED THE PROCESS SO IT WON''T ALL CHAOS LIKE IT WAS WITH SIDNEY. SIDNEY WAS ABLE TO DO WHAT SHE DID AND BLOCK YOUR EVIDENCE AND STOP YOU FROM SPEAKING BECAUSE SHE WAS THE FORENSICS COORDINATOR. I WAS JUST SITTING IN AS YOUR "ADVOCATE," BUT THEN I WAS TOLD I WASN'T REALLY SUPPOSE TO BE YOUR ADVOCATE. I TOLD THEM YOU SHOULD NOT BE MEDICATED BUT IT WAS UP TO THE PANEL AND YOUR DOCTOR. THE ONLY ABUSE THAT I HAVE SEEN IN THE HOSPITAL WAS AT YOUR FORCED MEDICATION HEARING - WHAT THEY DID TO YOU! WE WENT TO AUDREY ABOUT IT AND TOLD HER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COALINGA STATE HOSPITAL)."

00:05:44-00:10:28 Patient G reminds Officer Pica of his prior statement that he would have things to tell the FBI if they were to interview him; Officer Pica to patient G: "I'm not allowed to call the FBI, I will get in trouble if I do. I have to follow hospital rules and go through my chain of command. I report what I see to my Sergeant, then I have no idea what is done after that. Keep doing what you are doing and trying to get ahold of people; eventually you will get in touch with the right person. When you get ahold of the FBI or the Department of Justice (DOJ), tell them to do an audit - tell them to talk to every officer and staff member, alone and not as a group. They have to talk to people individually, then they will find out what does on here. I will talk to the FBI if they come here and show me their I.D. - I won't do any phone interviews."

00:10:28-00:11:44 "I DEAL WITH THE HOSPITAL ALL THE TIME, I AM A UNION REP AND THEY DON'T LISTEN TO US! THEY DON'T LISTEN TO US BECAUSE THEY ANSWER TO THEIR OWN STUFF. IT IS AGAINST HOSPITAL POLICY TO PUT A WIRE ON A PATIENT TO DO INVESTIGATIONS; THIS IS BECAUSE WE FALL UNDER BRANDON PRICE AND OUR HANDS ARE TIED. KEEP TRYING TO GET A HOLD OF PEOPLE; YOU JUST GOTTA GET IN TOUCH WITH THE RIGHT PERSON."

​DIRECTOR OF COALINGA STATE HOSPITAL)."

Halonski, Dave
(Currently a Registered Nurse at CSH 5+ years)
Total Recording Time 00:19:03

00:00:24-00:00:50 "The hospital administration was corrupt and evil.  When I was there, I watched it over and over again." Patient G tells Mr. Rabaut that he  needs to convey this to the Governor's office and state senators: "All's they gotta do is  subpoena me, they'll get all the testimony, they'll get my deposition, they don't even  have to subpoena me."

00:04:43-00:05:07 Patient G tells Mr. Rabaut that there is a credibility issue  here for patients who report what is happening at CSH. Patient G tells Mr. Rabaut that he is  needed to let people know what is really happening at CSH: "Everyone knows what's  going on there, sure they do, and the administration knows because it’s been going on  for the longest time."

00:08:32-00:08:44 Patient G asks Mr. Rabaut if his reference to the hospital  administration as being evil and committing crimes, was he referring to Pam Ahlin (current  Director for the California Department of State Hospitals)? "She was one of the folks,  yes."

00:08:48-00:09:32 Patient G asks Mr. Rabaut what his opinion is of CSH's  police Lieutenant Olivera and Lieutenant Berard. "Umm, I'm not going to talk about police  staff, they have personnel issues and they have personnel rights. I'll tell you what, I  don't know what any of them will say but I do know that they all know what I know.  There's no mystery about it, I mean it was not anything you know that was, uh,  undercover or super-secret. It was straight out in the open."  

00:09:34-00:10:33 Patient G asked Mr. Rabaut if he was familiar with the  issue of manipulating hospital staffing levels in order to make hospital operations appear  legal: "I'm familiar with the staffing issues, yep, and the fact that they used police  officers to break psych tech, social worker,, counselors and recreational therapists  rules because they wanted to save money; initially it was because they couldn't hire  fast enough, then they thought, we'll just save money by throwing 2 cops on every  unit and we won't have to hire any health and welfare folks, or you know  psychological or clinical care folks. So that wouldn't work and they put in one Psych  Tech to pass out meds because I told em' it was illegal - our officers can't hand out  meds, they are not MTA'S."

00:10:36-00:13:54 Patient G broached the interest of California Senate  staff: "Well, let them look into this, they have the where-with-all to do that, like I said  they can get my deposition, or subpoena me for testimony in front of anybody. I can  tell them everything I experienced in 6 and a 1/2 years, ya know........6 years, I'll tell  them what went on during the 6 years, that's what I'll tell them. They can ask me  specific questions on any subject and any person I worked for, any items they had,  financial, ya know. I can give ‘em a rundown on every step of the way of this stuff. I  can point to them, uh, the uh Special Orders that they put in and that kind of stuff, and  why they did what and how they came up with the staffing, and any questions they  have. How they thought law enforcement was a cure-all for doing everything within  the units."

00:13:54-00:14:05 Patient G asked Mr. Rabaut if the things he is referring  to - the things he had personal knowledge of - did those things amount to unethical, or even  criminal conduct: "In my opinion, Ya!"

Mayhle, Doug
(Current Psychiatric Technician at CSH approximately 3-4 years)
- 1 of 2, Patient Abuse Issues -
Total Recording Time 00:35:18

Last Update: Sept 2018