Four thousand men, women and children are kept alive by machines in “vent farms,” or subacute care units, in California nursing homes.
Inewsource’s Joanne Faryon and Brad Racino debuted a series this week digging into life-support care in California, visiting the Villa Coronado Skilled Nursing Facility a number of times to hear the stories of patients, doctors and families. According to Faryon’s story, the cost of care in these subacute units has more than doubled over the last decade, up to about $636 million last year alone.
“This is where people go when they don’t get better,” Racino told us on the latest episode of the podcast.
The takeaway for readers? Fill out an Advance Directive. “They’re kind of like living wills that just say, ‘This is what I want in the case of an injury,’” said Racino.
If you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, please reach out to Emily Tillson.
Listen to the podcast here, on Stitcher or on iTunes.
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Show Notes
• Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s draft of the Climate Action Plan is in and it came with teeth. The new plan sets reduction targets that give the city a little backbone to move forward on density projects that rile residents in certain neighborhoods.
• It’s well known the group charged with planning Balboa Park’s centennial dropped the ball. An audit painted a clearer picture of who exactly is to blame. Spoiler: It’s basically everyone involved.
• Dadla Ponizil is our Hero of the Week for transforming his house into the ultimate water-conservative home. KPBS’s Claire Trageser has the story.