This past week, Q-line asked: Do you feel that there’s a shortage of nursing homes in the city and if so, what do you feel can be done to encourage operators to move into Santa Monica?
Here are your responses: “YES THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF NURSING homes in Santa Monica, and there will continue to be. This city administration deemed Santa Monica land only appropriate for high priced condominiums, low-income housing and corporate America’s whatever. No room for the elderly citizens who are now beyond their youthfulness. There is little respect for the elderly in today’s youth-orientated society anyway, never mind the sick or handicapped elderly.”
“SANTA MONICA IS NOT AN IDEAL PLACE for a senior nursing or rest care facility. The reason being is the space required to offer comfortable conditions is too pricey in Santa Monica and other beach area cities. An ideal senior facility has landscaped grounds, gardens and a view, as well as medical capabilities. I am aware that health care will always render down to monetary costs. There are magnificent inland cities north of Bakersfield where the air is clean and the stars can be seen in abundance at night with expansive, reasonably priced land ideal for senior rest care facilities begging for development expansions. Still, families want their eldest close by. It will eventually render down to only the financially wealthy being capable of affording that luxury.”
“NOBODY WANTS TO LIVE NEAR ONE of those nursing homes. They’re like the most depressing places around. Once you go in there, you’re dying, you’re not going to come out unless it’s on a gurney or in a body-bag. They should call it waiting-to-die homes. In the old days people like that would be taken care of by their families. Nowadays people are too lazy to do it. So that’s what we should be encouraging. I’d rather go down in a hail of bullets than live in a nursing home.”
“YES, REGARDING NURSING HOMES IN the city of San Malicious (Santa Monica), I think we need to have a nursing home that caters more with organic food, because, being a resident of a current nursing home here in the city of San Malicious, there’s not organic food, and I’d love to see more organic food. More food from vegetables, tabouli, things like that.”
“WITH THE BABY-BOOMER GENERATION, 1946-1964 starting period, seniors from this group will soon need care. First, why does it cost $50,000 a year to care for a senior? Second, why are half the seniors from Santa Monica nursing homes not from America, let alone from Santa Monica? The cretins on the City Council need to enact a lower tax rate for nursing home providers, thereby ensuring an incentive to care for the aged rather than selling out to the council friendly developers, thereby guaranteeing another prison-looking condo and low-income housing development.”
“I WORK FOR TWO NURSING HOMES IN this city, Berkeley East and Berkeley West. I also live in the city and I walk to work. However, there are only three employees of more than 200 that live here in Santa Monica that work at these facilities. It is a difficult business to attract workers. Most nurses can earn more money at acute hospitals. Most employees that I work with cannot afford to live in Santa Monica. These nursing homes were built many years ago and have limited parking. Preferential parking in the hospital zone discourages employees, and thus they take jobs elsewhere. Most funding from nursing homes comes from federal and state funds. It is unlikely the Medicare or Medical programs will increase reimbursements to nursing homes this year. Thus local government needs to relax some laws, and other governments need to increase funding if you wish to see more nursing homes in our city.”
“IF I NEEDED A NURSING HOME FACILITY, do you really think I would want to be around all these bums and transients? I don’t think so.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 23, 2008. Read the original PDF.