Month: September 2025

Gavin Nguyen

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – Technical problems continue to plague the Palm Desert Aquatic Center.

City officials announced Tuesday that the lap pool at the facility would temporarily close until key equipment could be replaced.

The city cited issues with its pump room equipment, including filtration system, pumps, and heaters – all of which was installed when the facility first opened in 2011.

It said regular wear and extreme weather damaged seals around the filter tanks, which led to water clarity issues throughout the summer.

The recreation and splash pools will remain open with the lap pool temporarily shuttered. In the meantime, lap swim sessions will still happen (with limited hours) in the recreation pool, which is still open.

There are no problems chemically with the pools. Everything is balanced, including parameters like chlorine levels. The clarity is the key issue.

Pool staff said clarity problems are most apparent in the lap pool – which is why it is the only pool to face a temporary closure. At 15 feet deep, lifeguards presently cannot easily see to the bottom of the pool, which is critical in the event someone sinks to the bottom and is in distress.

The city anticipates a full replacement of key equipment in November, which will lead to an 8-10 week closure of the entire facility.

David Keyes, the Aquatic Manager of the facility, walked News Channel 3 crews through the equipment room that maintains the poolwater. Amid the din of whirring machines, he outlined the large lap pool filter – which has reached the end of its lifespan after 14 and a half years – that he described as being 25 times larger than the typical backyard pool filter.

“It’s big enough in there where I’ll get inside and I’ll shovel out, you know, the “elements” when we do some work on it,” he said, standing next to the filter.

He said when work begins in November, it will be replaced by a smaller, more efficient filter, which will free up some floor space in the room.

When the original filter was installed in 2011, it was put in place first – before the walls and roof were built around it.

Keyes also showed the smaller filters for the recreation and splash pools, hidden in the back. While smaller and filtering much less poolwater, they, too, have neared the end of their lifespans, and will be replaced when the overhaul takes place.

A new 50-horsepower pump will be installed, along with new heaters. Keyes said it’s a complete overhaul.

“There’s just no way to get around a long closure when you’re replacing your entire mechanical room and you want to gain another 15 to 20 years out of it,” Keyes explained.

He continued, “The city wants to make sure, hey, what we’re doing is done right so we’re not going to run into these problems years later.”

If you have any questions, you’re encouraged to contact PDAC staff at 760-565-7467 or visit the facility’s website at pdpool.com.

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Athena Jreij

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – A new $100,000 grant from the Houston Family Foundation will widely expand the ‘Nursing Street Medicine’ program at California State University San Bernardino, Palm Desert.

The program serves underserved populations, with targeted clinics on the street helping vulnerable populations, including those experiencing homelessness.

“We do vital signs and wound care if they have anything that needs it. We also do medication assistance so we find medications for them, we do medication review with them also,” Executive Director of the program, Diane Vines, said.

According to CSUSB-PD, the grant will fund three new clinics, the treatment of 700 individuals and 1,200 annual patient contacts, train 35 students annually, and focus more on mental health outreach.

Officials say more than half of those they treat have both mental health and substance abuse issues.

“We’re really hoping to start collaborating more with the mobile van to get more medications out in the field where the people are. A lot of the clients that we see suffer from severe mental health issues, and it’s a very big challenge to get medications. For example, patients with schizophrenia really suffer and have a hard time getting medications,” Samantha Duffle, the program director said.

Duffle says the funding comes as the needs of the homeless population they treat are also growing.

“There’s a large amount of homeless that we don’t even see. A lot of times the ‘point in time’ counts that are reported aren’t reflective of how many unhoused individuals there are in the Coachella Valley. Something unique about the services we provide is we do know where they’re at, and we have developed this long standing trust with them.”

It’s a win-win for students who are also getting hands-on experience in the field.

“They grow with empathy. They grow with leadership. They grow their communication,” Duffle said.

CSUSB-PD nursing student Nicole Corona said it’s also improved her confidence in treating patients.

“I was very interested in community health and I think that I had to start somewhere. I was able to see a lot of patient communication, see how well a lot of our, nursing students get to practice their skills,” Corona said.

If you’d like to find more information on the program’s pop-up clinics, visit: CSUSB PD STREET MEDICINE.

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