Santa Cruz Pleasant Care Slated to Close and no one is listening.

Although the mainstream media has not noticed yet, or simply does not care, one of the few remaining low income centers in Santa Cruz for the aged & disabled is slated for closing, Pleasant Care. Unless a miracle happens between now and July 2nd, it will close. The courts and the corporate office all agree on the chances of this facility staying open being more then slim.

The problem of lack of beds for our poor disabled and aged is already such a horrible problem. The county has largely ignored it. The root problem is the system itself, and only real local leadership in sync with money and national policy change will have any large-scale change. Fixing it on just a local level would mean spending, and using new out of the box solutions. In our society, our government seems to put money far above human beings, especially ones that cannot fight back.

Pleasant Care is a large corporation. They have 26 such facilities, mostly in California. All of there assets and facilities will be auctioned off in part of a fast track bankruptcy on July 2, 2007. I have read all the court transcripts. Yet when I placed a call to the local nursing home, they were barley aware of what was going on. The corporate office new exactly what was happening, Santa Cruz Pleasant Care is slated to be closed after July 2nd. This means patients and there families have little knowledge, and time to prepare.

The reasons for the bankruptcy, the ramifications on the poor and disabled will be discussed in length on Robert Norse’s Bathroom Broadsides radio show this Sunday July 24, 2007. Tune in at 101.1FM, or stream it from www.freakradio.org. Showtimes are 9:30-1:00 pm.

No major media has, as of the writing of this, written a word about the bankruptcy and closing of the local facility or the ramifications it will have on 3,000 disabled poor people across California. Our own local leadership are either unaware, which means they are not doing their job, or do not care. I am not holding my breath for Santa Cruz County leaders to address this issue.

The reason for the bankruptcy stems from faulty conditions, poor health care, ultimately leading to refusal of payment from Medi-care and Medi-Cal at three facilities. Pleasant Care has had many facilities being investigated. Pleasant Care went from pleasantly making 200 million a year off the backs of poor disabled people, to owing money to there only creditor, Bridge, who swiftly cut them off. They also owe the IRS, and dozens and dozens of other heath care providers.

The facts and ramifications from this bankruptcy are thick, and cannot be all addressed in one article. We will be speaking at length about the closing of the Santa Cruz Pleasant Care on Sunday the 24, 2007. If you have a loved one in Pleasant Care, you will want to hear this show. If you care about the poor and disabled in your community, you should tune in, call in and participate. If you work there, please call in. Robert Norse’s Bathroom Broadsides radio show this Sunday July 24, 2007. Tune in at 101.1FM, or stream it from here. Studio Line: (831) 427-3772.

I will be posting a more detailed article prior to the show as well as copies of some court transcripts.