California State Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) is convinced that Brius’ recently amended closure plans (September 13), which still call for the elimination of 258 nursing home beds in Humboldt County, is “dangerous” and will place “the most medically fragile at risk.”
McGuire sent a letter to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) on September 19 after reading Brius’ revised closure plan. The letter expresses his concern over Brius’ failure to address the “serious health and safety concerns related to relocation of [Humboldt] residents living in the facilities.”
According to the Senator’s letter, Brius, which owns all 5 nursing homes in Humboldt, plans to stop accepting residents into their nursing homes this Saturday, September 24. The company’s plan is “simply not acceptable,” writes McGuire, adding that this “irresponsible” timeline would create a “crisis” for hospitals in Humboldt and throughout the region looking to discharge their patients to local nursing homes.
Brius’ proposed elimination of nearly 60 percent of Humboldt’s available nursing home beds is “unprecedented in California,” writes McGuire. Senator McGuire urges CDPH to reject the company’s amended closure plan and consider all other reasonable alternatives, including receivership, that will ensure residents’ health and safety remains the “top priority” once and for all.