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PermalinkWednesday, July 27, 2011
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Adult Day Health Care Programs May Close In December
Aired 7/27/11
Providers of adult-day-care services in California may have to shut their doors on Dec. 1st. If so, more than 35,000 medically fragile people will be scrambling to find appropriate care.
SAN DIEGO — Providers of skilled day care for seniors and the disabled say they don't know if their programs will survive. After the governor's veto of a partial funding bill, providers have few options.
Funding for some 300 adult day health care programs was eliminated in the state budget. These programs care for more than 35,000 medically fragile seniors and disabled adults.
California Gov. Jerry Brown said the state will make sure that patients get a smooth transition to appropriate services.
Mark Woodruff is program director at Casa Pacifica in South San Diego. His program has a mixture of elderly, disabled, and psychiatric patients. Woodruff said the governor is making an empty promise.
"There is no program available in the state, whether it's San Diego, San Francisco, or Sacramento, that these type of patients can transition to," Woodruff complained.
Adult day health-care providers are pinning their hopes on a lawsuit challenging the state's cut off of funds. If it fails, programs will run out of money at the end of November.
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