Families with loved ones using ElderLife, an adult day care center in Bakersfield, are wondering if the facility will still be there at the end of February.
Kern Medical Center, which runs the facility, and the Board of Supervisors might choose to shut it down.
The people at ElderLife thought the facility would close because the state cut adult health care out of Medi-Cal. But, a disability rights group filed a claim against the state late last year and won.
On March 1, 2012, a day after Medi-Cal stopped funding adult day health care, community-based adult services, or CBAS, a new program paid for by Medi-Cal will begin. The people at ElderLife say it's the same program, but in order to cut down on the number of patients served, there are stricter medical needs a patient must have to qualify.
State nurses on Tuesday came to evaluate the 50 or so people that use the facility, to see who would qualify.
However, Kern Medical Center administrators aren't sure they want to go forward with CBAS. If they choose not to and advise the Board of Supervisors to do the same, ElderLife would close.
People like Juana Maldonado's mother, who suffered a stroke, would then have to look for another place for therapy.
"It's not just money," said Maldonado. "It's emotional the stress to all of us and to our families and to our elderly. What are you going to do with them? Just let them die? You, know, come on."
"My hope, our hope," explained Kathy Hilberg, ElderLife's program coordinator. "Is that Kern Medical Center will determine that the program is of value and that they will pilot the new program, give us a period of time to show that it can be viable and not a financial liability for Kern Medical Center or for the county."
There are about a dozen full and part-time workers at ElderLife. If it closes, some will be out of a job and some will be placed into other positions at Kern Medical Center.
