Former KP psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Melcher
The Medical Board of California says it is also pursuing disciplinary action. According to MBC records, the boy was molested after a dinner party at Dr. Melcher’s Sacramento area home on October 8, 2011.
Melcher was arrested the following December, but continued to practice at KP until March, when he finally resigned from his position there. In April he pleaded “no contest” to the charges, which led to last week’s sentencing.
It’s not clear when Kaiser became aware of the allegations, but from the following statement it looks like they did know about the arrest, but chose to allow him to continue working until his resignation.
“Dr. Melcher is no longer with Kaiser Permanente. The charges against Dr. Melcher relate to an incident that occurred in a social situation outside of Kaiser Permanente and his medical practice.
“Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan must take into account the legal and due process rights of employees and physicians while they await adjudication. Dr. Melcher’s practice involved only adults. We evaluated Dr. Melcher’s practice and confirmed that the charges against him related to an incident that occurred in a social situation outside of Kaiser Permanente and his medical practice. He resigned on March 19.”
Innocent until proven guilty, as they say, but given the sensitive nature of a psychiatric practice, it seems that at the very least a suspension with pay should have been in order until the case was decided. It creeps us out a lot to put ourselves in the shoes of his patients, trusting and sharing their innermost secrets and problems with an accused child molester, unbeknownst to them. I don’t know about you, but even if it is true that he only treated adults, I wouldn’t want even an alleged pervert for a psychiatrist.
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As a former KP Human Resources employee, I can tell you that KP’s only interest is to protect itself from litigation from either high-ranking employees, stakeholders (such as our dear Dr. Melcher), and the unions KP bows down to. Patient well-being is a non-issue when KP’s ass is on the line for a lawsuit for wrongful termination. This is why they kept this creten employed. He’d probably still be working for KP if he hadn’t resigned.
This is a testament to the “quality” staff working at KP.
I could name a few baby-killers at KP, but it’s best to be like KP for now and protect my butt at all costs.
I am not surprised that medical abuse happens at Kaiser. When I was a child and a patient in hospital, at Kaiser, I received unwanted, non consensual hypnotism, that is I did not consent, nor did my family for me to receive this therapy. I was also abused by staff at this Chinatown location(College St.), I was told to “Kill myself”. It was pretty strange, I also did not receive the other services the other kids did , I still do not understand why.
As I was leaving the hospital, I also experienced another patient, on emergency hold being turned away from getting care. She was told she should get care at the County facility LAC USC. It was an emergency situation that she was there. She was turned away, she was a member.
When I left hospital I was told I would be covered for outpatient sessions, so I made my appointments. When I actually show up for my appointment the counselor asked me to leave immediately and to never call or come back as “as Kaiser cannot help me” They had previously informed me and my school that I would be covered for counseling sessions. Abuse at Kaiser does happen often!