Cook, caregivers struggled to aid center's residents

[Jesus Malverde]

Maurice Rowland knew that the closure notice stuck on the front door of his workplace meant the assisted-living residential facility was to be closed Thursday night because of a license revocation.

But why, he wondered, were 19 of the center's 32 residents still there - some with Alzheimer's, others with what he believed to be schizophrenia, all of them hungry and wanting dinner.

Almost all the caregivers had left. The manager and owners were nowhere to be found. Rowland was the cook, hired three months earlier to prepare meals for the residents at Valley Springs Manor in Castro Valley.

"I didn't know what was going on, but I couldn't just leave them there," Rowland said Tuesday from his Hayward home. "We had built a friendship. So I did the best I could."

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Cook-caregivers-struggled-to-aid-center-s-4937888.php

[PDJane]

1. This is heartbreaking.

What was supposed to happen to those people if everyone had walked off? Were they meant to die in the worst circumstances possible? There should be criminal charges, at the very least.

[Jesus Malverde]

2. They need to update the regulations..

Facts about residential care centers
-- They're nonmedical, state-regulated assisted-living homes for the elderly or adults with dementia and other debilitating illnesses.

-- The center is not required to hire someone with a medical degree.

-- Workers must be at least 18 years old, have a high school diploma, pass a criminal background check and undergo 10 hours of care training.

-- Facilities are inspected by the state once every five years.