Written by Joey Brasil
Despite San Diego County paying a company millions of dollars to run a COVID-19 isolation hotel in Mission Valley, issues have run rampant.
Many of the residents at the hotel have complained about how the staff and security run the program. Prior to the county re-evaluating the program, police calls had risen due to heightened mental health issues and a man even committed suicide in his room.
The complaints stem from how the county’s contractor, Equus Workforce Solutions, has hired supervisors that do not care for the residents as they’re told to do so.
A woman named Teagle, a resident of the hotel, reported several problems that she has witnessed which include: untimely medication, malnutrition of children, lack of coordination with mental/behavioral services, and unprepared staff.
On top of that, another prior guest said that a guard attempted to hit him with a chair due to a dispute about his security animal. William Morris, the former guest, told the county, “they don’t have empathy for people, compassion for people and they’re a bunch of animals running wild.”
On March 26, an employee at the Crowne Plaza had even begged for additional staff in order to better care for all of the residents living at the hotel.
However, the additional staff to help care for residents wasn’t able to help Jose Angel Gomez-Camacho. The 28-year-old man committed suicide at the hotel three weeks after the request for more staff was completed.
The lack of care was apparent by how the staff assumed Jose had left once he tested negative for the virus. It took five days for employees to discover that he was dead. Guests are supposed to be checked on at least once per day.
Telecare, the company working with Equus, has a history of not fulfilling its responsibilities assigned by the county. However, Nicole Ganier, VP of operations for the western region of Equus, stated “We recognize the complex nature of the population we serve as part of this program and have implemented policies and trained staff to assist them as effectively as possible.”
Despite statements such as this one, workers at the hotel still claim that training is inadequate. The main message told to residents, when the staff is unsure of what to do, is to call the police.
There is no excuse for this poor service coming from a county-funded program, especially considering it has cost taxpayers millions.
Photo by Lisa Halverstadt/Voice of San Diego
