State Shuts 2 Santa Ana Board-and-Care Homes

State officials Tuesday closed two private board-and-care homes in Santa Ana, saying that a 23-year-old developmentally disabled man who lived in one of them had died after not receiving “necessary medical care.”

The closure of the Bastida Home, at 2060 S. Olive St., and the Vargas Home, at 1014 S. Halladay St., both owned by Victoria and Rogelio Bastida, became the sixth and seventh board-and-care operations in Orange County to be shut down by the state since Dec. 1. Both homes provided care for handicapped people 18 to 59 years old, the state said.

A state document made public in connection with the closures identifies the deceased man only as “Client No. 1,” says he was a resident of the Bastida Home and that he had an outside job. The document says that “on or about Sept. 15, 1988” the man, described as “nonverbal,” “was sent home from work ill . . . and his employer suggested he be taken to a doctor.” The document then says, without elaboration, “Client 1 died the next day.”

Reason for Charge

The state Department of Social Services accusation charges that the home’s owners “failed to seek and/or provide necessary medical care” for the man.

Sergio Ramirez, a licensing program supervisor with the Community Care Licensing Division of the social services department said Tuesday that neither he nor anyone else in the office could discuss the case beyond what the document says.

Ramirez said that although a violation is alleged only against the Bastida Home, the Vargas Home was also closed because Victoria and Rogelio Bastida are two of its owners. The Bastidas could not be reached for comment Tuesday. A family member who answered their telephone said they would be consulting their attorney about the closures and would have no immediate statement.

Jacqueline Vargas, who is listed as a co-owner of the Vargas Home, also could not be reached for comment.

Ramirez said the closures were carried out without incident and that the homes’ residents--three men at the Bastida Home and four women at the Vargas Home--were moved to other facilities.

“We had absolutely no problem whatsoever,” Ramirez said.

The other five board-and-care homes closed since December were all facilities for the elderly. The state charged that each of the homes had cared improperly for some of its residents.

Board-and-care facilities, by state law, may not house people who need skilled medical care such as must be provided by doctors and nurses. A patient needing extended medical care must go to a hospital or a nursing home.

Orange County has about 800 residential board-and-care homes; some cater only to the elderly, others to categories of people such as the handicapped who have special needs.

The state closed two facilities in Cypress Dec. 2; one in Laguna Hills Dec. 19, and one in Dana Point and one in San Clemente Jan. 27.