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| | Illegal Activities Of Dr. Gonzalo Flores Ruiz Not Connected With Central Valley Occupational Medical Group's Practice, Officials State. Dr. Ruiz To Be Sentenced On December 3rd.
By Lonce LaMon - October 11, 2012
It’s always a lamentable twist of fate when the perpetrator of a crime happens to work for your company, be your next door neighbor, turns out to be your sister or brother, or God forbid be your own husband.
God bless the alumni, past and present professors and executives, and today’s students of Penn State University. May they all have the strength of character and the fortitude to withstand the ignominy of Jerry Sandusky.
God bless the Catholic Church and the many extraordinary nuns, priests, cardinals, popes, and parishioners, both past and present, who for years to come will have to withstand the many jokes and comments about pedophile priests and their crimes against children.
So, how do we deal with the embarrassment of crimes that happen within our own families, organizations, and institutions? As a proud alumna of the University of Southern California, this writer had to deal with the embarrassment of O.J. Simpson during the
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So, how do we deal with the embarrassment of crimes that happen within our own families, organizations, and institutions? |
early 1990s, and his subsequently scandalous murder trial. One life-long friend called me during this time and said to me, “I am so sorry for you about O.J….” I was shocked! What on Earth did I have to do with O.J. Simpson!?
Nothing! But clearly my friend made an association. Perhaps she assumed I must be in mourning over the sudden ignominy of a fellow U.S.C. comrade, as if he were a kind of brother, or perhaps she thought I was an accomplice to the murder!
Well, in this fashion came the embarrassment to the staff of the Central Valley Occupational Medical Group in Bakersfield, California, when their office was raided by the F.B.I. on October 17th 2011. The raid was over the illegal activities of Dr. Gonzalo Flores Ruiz, a forty-something-year-old physician, who for some time prior to his merely contract employment with Central Valley Occupational Medical Group, had been prescribing and distributing hydrocodone outside the scope of medical practice and for no legitimate medical purpose.
Hydrocodone is also known under the brand names of Vicodin, Vicoprofen, Lortab, Lorcet, and Norco. It is a painkiller and an addictive prescription narcotic.
Ruiz pled guilty on September 24th 2012 to charges of distributing a controlled substance before the U.S. Eastern District Court of California.
Dr. Ruiz was contracted as a medical provider for Central Valley Occupational Medical Group starting in February of 2010, but according to reports, he was investigated for illegal activity beginning in April of 2009. At that beginning date of the investigation time-period, Ruiz did not work for Central Valley Occupational Medical Group. He had worked for other medical providers in Kern County before working for Central Valley Occupational, such as U.S. Healthworks Medical Group, Concentra, Industrial Medical Group, Budget Medical Group, Bakersfield Weight Control, KCEOC Family Health Care, and the Kern County Health Department.
This pleasant patio with benches, a table, and an umbrella serves the patients and staff in Bakersfield at Central Valley Occupational Medical Group.
Needless to say, Dr. Ruiz does not work for Central Valley Occupational any longer.
Central Valley Occupational Medical Group officials stated on October 9th 2012 that Dr. Gonzalo Flores Ruiz’s conviction and illegal activities were in no way connected with their medical practice. They stated that Ruiz’s illegal actions were conducted outside their normal scope of practice. The lead investigator for this case indicated to Central Valley Occupational’s management that their medical practice was not the subject of investigation. This was reaffirmed when Dr. Ruiz pled guilty to the charges on September 24th 2012.
Central Valley Occupational Medical Group officials also indicated that they continue to maintain a high level of medical care for those injured and/or ill while on the job. They have recently added a satellite clinic in Delano, California, which is about 30 miles northwest of Bakersfield. Bakersfield is about 110 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles--north on the 5 freeway to the 99 freeway in the southern-central region of the state of California.
Here's the front entrance to the new satellite clinic of Central Valley Occupational Medical Group in Delano, California.
Bakersfield is a thriving center for the oil business. This writer has a beloved college friend who lived in Bakersfield for over 20 years and whose husband is a classic oil executive. Bakersfield was the center of their lives before they semi-retired to Newport Beach, California. Thus, many employee-patients come to Central Valley Occupational Medical Group from the Bakersfield oil businesses, but also from the agricultural industry. Oil and agriculture are the big businesses in Bakersfield, but also service industries thrive which include hotels and restaurants. Employees from the government agencies are also treated at Central Valley Occupational Medical Group.
Over 200 employee-patients visited the Bakersfield facility yesterday, Wednesday, October 10th 2012. This Bakersfield clinic is over 10,000 square feet in size, which is sufficiently large enough to handle the volume.
The Bakersfield facility of Central Valley Occupational Medical Group takes up over 10,000 square feet in this building at 4100 Truxtun Avenue.
Bakersfield was an area where Cesar Chavez led farm worker strikes during the 1960s and 1970s. So, its history as an agricultural center contains many happenings. Delano is also known as “Crow Town” because of the many crows that roam there.
Dr. Gonzalo Flores Ruiz is scheduled for sentencing on December 3th 2012. His maximum possible sentence is 10 years in prison.
Central Valley Occupational Medical Group should come to feel soon like any well-established institution or organization, just like Penn State, U.S.C., the Catholic Church, and so many others. One disreputable offender cannot pull down the integrity of the entire body. Thus, they will endure in Kern County. And in Delano, the crows will continue to fly and make lots of racket.
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