The Burlingame Long-Term Care facility should be closed, (San Mateo) grand jury report says

By Janis Mara

jmara@bayareanewsgroup.com
Posted: 07/11/2011 09:00:33 PM PDT
Updated: 07/11/2011 11:18:54 PM PDT

The Burlingame Long-Term Care facility should be closed and its services and patients should be transferred to the San Mateo Medical Center main campus, according to a report released Monday by the San Mateo County civil grand jury.

The skilled nursing facility, which currently houses about 230 patients, is overcrowded and understaffed and the 1970 building on Trousdale Drive doesn't meet current seismic safety standards, the report said.

The grand jury recommended that the facility be shut down and its current occupants, most of whom stay for about a year, be moved to the San Mateo Medical Center.

"The facilities in Burlingame are dilapidated," said Raymond Basso, the jury foreman. "The county has to decide whether to live with that facility or slowly move the current residents into the main medical center." While some renovations would be needed at the main campus, the report described them as a wise investment.

The report also touched on what Basso described as the county's "dilemma" regarding care for some people who are dependent on Medi-Cal and need long-term care.

"The Burlingame facility is supposed to be a skilled nursing facility where patients would have 24-hour nursing staff available," Basso said. "Many of the residents there don't really need a skilled nursing facility. They are semi-independent and would be fine in a long-term care facility or something similar. Some could even get along at home if a nurse visited regularly."

However, Medi-Cal only pays for skilled nursing facilities and those who can't afford to pay for their own care have nowhere else to go. The county must provide for them by law, so they end up at skilled nursing facilities.

A bill is currently pending in the Legislature to approve Medi-Cal waivers for long-term care. The bill could go into effect as early as 2012, the report said. The grand jury recommended that the county lobby for the bill.

"It would provide a lot more flexibility and really make much more effective use of Medi-Cal money," Basso said.

Louise Rogers, deputy director of the San Mateo County Health System, said county officials "appreciate the report and are grateful that the grand jury has a sophisticated understanding of this complicated issue."

She added. "The county will respond to the grand jury report and, over the course of the next few months, we will be actively working on options to present to the Board of Supervisors, including those outlined in the report."

Rogers said that if it is decided that closing Burlingame Long-Term Care is necessary, the system would take the time needed to make a "very extensive, deliberate, and careful plan to ensure our patients and staff are protected and cared for."

Contact Janis Mara at 510-301-8373.

http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county/ci_18458928?nclick_check=1