Ahimsa’s Caring Role as a Skilled Facility

The article “Laguna AIDS Refuge Cited” (May 3) is an example of blaming the provider who has taken the risk to provide a most needed, yet feared service. The information provided was taken largely from three disgruntled individuals and through innuendo constructed to paint a negative and very inaccurate picture.

In the past week, I have received countless hugs and numerous calls from angered families who know the true experience of Ahimsa. We are not a refuge but a skilled nursing facility and in-patient hospice. As such, we are required to maintain compliance with more than 500 regulations.

In that context, while the deficiencies noted require and have in fact been corrected, it hardly warrants the printed suggestion that Ahimsa’s license is in jeopardy or that “substandard” care is provided.

What is truly newsworthy is that since November, 1988, we have cared for nearly 70 AIDS patients, 40 cancer patients and successfully integrated these into a skilled nursing environment with geriatric patients.

Further, to suggest that the opinions of three represent a rift in the AIDS community is absurd and destructive. Those of us in the trenches who witness daily the assault on the bodies and psyches of people with AIDS have gotten beyond our idiosyncrasies and egos to join hands in a united front to provide a continuum of care to people living with AIDS.

Orange County has been a model community in this regard, and the media should be applauding its efforts, not creating an artificial problem. This type of reporting only serves to promote the stereotypes and fears, which interfere with our progress in addressing a national health crisis.

SHARON JO LUCAS

Administrator, Ahimsa Care Center