Convalescent Home in Reseda Shuts Suddenly

A Reseda convalescent home was thrown into chaos late Friday with the sudden announcement that the facility was shutting down.

Sixty-three residents of the Reseda Convalescent Hospital were told to leave immediately. Some were taken away by family members, but others found themselves with no place to go.

There was no immediate explanation for the closing. The facility’s owners could not be reached for comment.

The scene outside was one of confusion as family members arrived in a steady stream to comfort loved ones--many of whom were bedridden--and to begin efforts to find at least temporary housing for them.

Workers from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services were notified shortly before 5 p.m. that the facility, which was built in 1968, was shutting down. Workers from the department rushed to the scene to help with the housing search and to try to reach family members not already contacted.

It was unclear late Friday when all of the residents would be out of the building.

“There’s no staff here tonight, and I guarantee you there will be no food here to feed them tomorrow,” said Victor Arkin, the county’s chief of health facilities, who was on the scene.

State records show that the owner of the facility was Phoenix Health Group of Scottsdale, Ariz.

As health workers and family members tended to residents inside, locksmiths arrived to change the locks on the front doors of the facility, located in the 6700 block of Wilbur Avenue.

But county officials said that they would not leave any residents uncared for.

“We don’t have a deadline,” Arkin said. “We’ll be here as long as it takes.”

Steve Witkin said he received a call at 4:30 p.m. that his mother, Lillian, 85, would have to be moved. His mother has Alzheimer’s disease, Witkin said, and had been in the facility for several years.

“For years this was the best nursing home in the [San Fernando] Valley,” he said.

Witkin said he was eventually able to find a place for his mother at the Rinaldi Convalescent Hospital in Grandada Hills.

Other families said they were having similar experiences.

“They are being treated just like fodder,” Witkin said of the residents.

Resident Shelly Diamond, who has multiple sclerosis, was across the street, being pushed in a wheelchair in a nearby park when residents were told of the home’s closing. She arrived back to be told that she would not be allowed into the building.

“I can’t believe they did it like that,” Diamond, 46, said. “We got no warning.”

Diamond was eventually allowed back in to get her belongings. But staff workers, arriving for their shifts, were not allowed access.

“We were told we were out of a job,” said maintenance man Jose Carranza.

Dr. Parviz Lahiji, who has 10 patients in the facility, said he was trying to reach their family members. “But I don’t have access to any of the families,” he said. “I’m trying to find telephone numbers to call them so that they can make a decision.”