Patients receiving care from Kaiser Permanente’s Manteca Distinct Part Skilled Nursing Facility will have until Nov. 1 to find new medical care in the community after the Northern California healthcare giant announced that they are shuttering their sub-acute and skilled nursing segments “after careful consideration.”
Located on the second floor of the facility that Kaiser Permanente has operated since acquiring what was St. Dominic’s Hospital from Catholic Healthcare West – now Dignity Health – 14 years ago, the skilled nursing facility served patients who required complex care or rehabilitation. In many ways served as their last home before degenerative diseases and illnesses took their lives.
As of Monday, there were only three patients assigned to the unit. The managed care provider will work to ensure that all of them continue to receive the same quality of care that they’ve come to expect.
“Kaiser Permanente works with trusted partners in the community who specialize in sub-acute and other skilled nursing care, which we believe is best for residents,” said Kaiser Permanente Central Valley Senior Vice President and Area Manager Corwin Harper. “We will work closely with the three affected residents and their families to transition them to the best possible facilities in the community to meet their needs.
“If residents choose to be closer to their families, we will support their relocation.”
While the closure of the unit may have been unexpected for the residents, Kaiser administrators insist that that the move is in no way reflective of the overall health of the system in Manteca or their long-term plans to continue to provide medical coverage to a growing number of patients.
The Oakland-based non-profit hospital system, which is the nation’s third-largest, currently operates both an outpatient clinic and a full-service hospital in Manteca, with additional medical facilities in both Stockton and Modesto to meet the needs of patients in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.
“This closure will not impact operations at our Manteca Hospital and will allow us the flexibility to repurpose the space for much needed hospital capacity for our members,” Harper said. “We will continue to invest in our people and facilities to meet the needs of our Central Valley membership, which has grown 24 percent over the last four years and continues to grow.”
While the exact plans for the space that will become available once the sub-acute and skilled nursing facilities are permanently closed were not announced, Harper said that there are upgrades in the works that will benefit the majority of their Manteca-based patients. No layoffs were announced in the release provided by the company.
“Future plans for Manteca include adding a Nuclear Medicine camera in support of cardiovascular services and a mobile MRI unit, enhancing the Emergency Department, expanding the impatient pharmacy, and upgrading the laboratory equipment,” Harper said. “We want the employees affected by this change to continue to be a part of Kaiser Permanent and will provide assistance and help identify other positions for them within the organization.”
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
