Footnotes on the Fate of the Elderly Displaced by Laguna Manor’s Closure

Until Sept. 4 of this year, my grandmother was a happy, five-year resident of the Laguna Manor retirement home in Laguna Beach. She had many friends there and was blossoming under the warm care of the staff.

Then, without notice, the state moved her out of her apartment, tossing all her worldly possessions into plastic garbage bags. They were ready to load her on a van and take her to some facility that they had chosen when my mother, who had just received the message at 3 o’clock that afternoon, arrived in time to rescue my grandmother at the last moment.

Why is it that if you rent an apartment, the landlord is required to give you 30 days’ notice before an eviction (and then there is usually an extended litigation period), but if you’re elderly and living in a licensed care facility, the state, with only a few hours’ notice, can throw you out and move you wherever it sees fit?

My grandmother was lucky that she had my mother just a few blocks away. What about those elderly people who had no family? Where did the state put them? Where are they now? Does anyone care?

CHRISTINE STAGG

Sausalito