Conditions at Care Home

I read with interest your article, “State Officials Come Calling Unannounced at Care Homes� (Feb. 26).

The resident in the top photograph, who “appeared to take little interest in the surprise visit,� indeed takes little interest in very much. She happens to be my mother and has been senile for 3 1/2 years and has been in a care facility for 2 1/2 years.

This is the third home she has been in and, so far, the best one. Under California law, we have the option of “care facilities� or “convalescent care.� The price difference in the two is great, as the latter requires 24-hour staffing by a physician.

Fortunately, my mother’s health remains good, and we have her in the Artesia Gardens care facility.

You mentioned a smell of urine in the hallway and bedrooms. Not too surprising, as many of the patients, including my mother, have forgotten just what toilet training is. As for ham sliced “so thin you could see through them,� you did not mention that many of the people, my mother included, have a hard time chewing. Thin slicing prevents waste.

Something you didn’t care to mention is that once the people have finished their meals, they are asked whether they want more food.

I have no intention of moving my mother from there, as long as her health remains good and for how long they wish to continue to care for her. The article was written with no compassion for the people responsible for my mother and others like her on a 24-hour basis. Furthermore, she was placed there, she was not dumped there.

EDWARD B. ENOCH

Compton