Seniors Scramble to Find Homes

Following the unexpected announcement that one of the county’s largest providers of assisted-living housing for the elderly is closing, the families of nearly 200 senior citizens scrambled Saturday to find new housing for their loved ones.

Meanwhile, teams of state investigators fanned out across the county to inspect the 29 residential care homes owned by Newport Beach-based Managed Assisted Care Services Inc., which operated its facilities under the name Autumn Rose.

The fast-growing, 2-year-old company crashed into insolvency on Friday, so abruptly that its residents, many of them frail and infirm, found they had only 72 hours or less to find new housing.

A half-dozen inspectors for the state Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Department reported no code violations at any of the homes, each of which is licensed to house six senior citizens.

Also, they found that residents were still being provided with basic necessities, including food and medicine. But the elderly residents, relatives and caretakers were left reeling by the sudden turn of events.

Many were angry that the company had not provided adequate notice of the closure and could not meet its payroll. “I can’t just walk out and abandon them here,” said Barbara Andrade, a worker at a Costa Mesa home where she has cared for six residents the past six years.

Residents expressed sadness at having to move away from friends they had lived with for years. Eleanor Langer, a 91-year-old widow whose rheumatoid arthritis forces her to use a walker, said she didn’t know where she would be living in coming days.

“This is a nice place,” she said, speaking of the Costa Mesa home where she shares a room with another elderly woman. “But this is overnight stuff. When you’re old, you just can’t walk out the door.”

The company’s financial meltdown occurred after it lost the expected backing of a major investor, according to company officials. The company’s president, Brian Christie, was not available for comment, but his wife said the company was on shaky financial footing when her husband invested in it five months ago.

The company had been expanding rapidly, operating homes in various Orange County cities, including Irvine, Tustin, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest and Newport Beach. It also owned six homes in Riverside County. Companywide, the firm housed 192 residents, according to state officials.

As recently as six weeks ago, the company expanded its operations by almost a third with the purchase of seven residential care homes in Costa Mesa from James Vocke. “They seemed to be doing well. They were buying homes all over the place,” Vocke said. “They gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

But on Friday, company officials announced the closures, saying they could no longer meet their payroll. Almost immediately, other residential care homes in the area were deluged with phone calls from families anxious to find new housing for their elderly or disabled relatives.

“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” said an employee of New Visions Elder Care, a Huntington Beach-based company that operates four homes.

John Grant, supervisor of the state’s licensing program in the county, said residential care facility owners are required to give 30-day notice of their intention to cease operations. Those who fail to comply can have their licenses revoked, Grant said. State officials had not yet determined how, or if, the company would be penalized, Grant said.

Approximately 700 licensed residential care facilities provide approximately 17,000 beds across the county, Grant said. Grant said the vacancy rate is “fairly high,” but cautioned that finding adequate housing on short notice will be a challenge for some families.

“There’s not a space problem,” he said. “The issue is . . . people having to match their needs--physical, social and otherwise--with a particular environment.”

Barbara Ito said finding a stable environment for her 48-year-old brother-in-law who suffers from dementia will be especially difficult, because she lives in Camarillo.

Given such short notice, Ito worries she will not be able to find a suitable facility. Her brother-in-law, she said, requires special care because he is diabetic and is often disoriented when moved to a new environment.

She said he will be “traumatized” at having to move from his Costa Mesa home.

“It’s like a young child being ripped away from his family,” she said.