MID-CITY Patients at a convalescent home here are worried about how they are going to spend what are supposed to be their golden years as the owner of the facility moves forward with plans to demolish it and replace it with 19 condominiums.
The redevelopment of the Crescent Bay Convalescent Hospital, located at 1433 14th Street, and the recent closure of a similar facility, The Berkshire, has raised questions about senior housing and whether or not City Hall is doing enough to protect it.
Members of the Planning Commission, along with Councilman Kevin McKeown, the commission’s council liaison, expressed their concerns last week when the project’s architect presented plans for the condos.
Commissioners and the councilman suggested the issue be discussed as part of an update to the city’s zoning laws to see if senior living facilities and convalescent hospitals need to be protected.
Since the facility is a private business, there are no laws prohibiting its owner from closing it down. The owner is required to give patients 60 days to relocate and provide assistance during that period.
“The eviction of any Santa Monica resident is disturbing, but the victimization of medically-challenged seniors is infuriating,” McKeown said. “We need to ascertain whether we are losing retirement and convalescent options for our residents and our relatives, splitting families apart and endangering frail seniors.
“Assisted-living facilities are a service we must retain to remain a balanced community.”
Those who work in the industry said Santa Monica has many options for seniors who have money, but for those on Medicare or Medicaid, there are only slim pickings. That’s because facilities accepting those patients are being forced to close because of rising health care costs that are not reimbursed by federal and state programs.
The owner of Crescent Bay chose not to comment.
Purchased in 2003, the owner, Soundview Investment Partners, has kept the facility open during the development process. Crescent Bay, which has served the community for more than 40 years, was purchased as a redevelopment project.
Patients there had nothing but kind words to say about the nurses who provide care, often referring to them as members of the family who mourn when one of their residents die.
“This is just a great place. Everyone is well taken care of and really feels safe here,”said Jeff Stevenson, whose 80-year-old mother Sallie suffers from Parkinson’s disease and is “terrified” of the thought of having to move again.
“She’s close to her doctor, who comes down here once a week to check up on her,” Stevenson said. “I don’t want to have to move her some place farther away where she won’t be able to get that kind of care. I don’t want her to suffer.”
Nurses at the facility are also worried about their patients and their own futures, wondering where they will go next. Many of them have worked at Crescent Bay for decades and have built strong bonds with one another.
“Everyone is concerned about the development here and what will happen to the staff and the residents,” said nurse Gloria Mathews. “This is their home.”
At Crescent Bay, patients share rooms with one other person. They receive around-the-clock care and are encouraged to engage in daily activities. Many gather during the afternoons to watch classic films, while others chose to lay in bed and watch television or sit in a patio and enjoy the breeze.
Bob Whiteside, a new patient at the facility, said he can’t blame the owner for wanting to make a profit, and if he can’t do it by operating the hospital, then he has every right to redevelop.
That said, Whiteside knows that patients will have trouble finding a new place to live that is in Santa Monica because he just went through that process, and it was rough.
“There just aren’t that many places around that you can afford,” Whiteside said. “Santa Monica is close to my family and friends. I don’t want them to put me in some place in Bellflower.”
Fred Armitage, whose wife, Evelyn is a patient, can’t understand why anyone would want to buy Crescent Bay if they had intentions of building condos. Instead, they should have looked at other sites where those suffering from illnesses would not be affected.
“We can’t lose this place,”Armitage said.“If the developer wants to make some money then sell it to someone else and move on.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 27, 2007. Read the original PDF.