Ramirez: “We have not had one unexpected demise of any of our residents. Nazario: WELL, ASIDE FROM THE ONES WHO’VE DIED, I WOULD IMAGINE, RIGHT? Ramirez: “They’ve been very, very grateful for the types of care. She’s also helping patients make the transition into other nursing homes. Nazario: Nancy Ramirez is a registered nurse who manages patient services at the facility. Nancy Ramirez: “So far, we’ve had great feedback from the families.” Nazario: Helen Frasier said that a few days later, the daughter returned to pick up her mother’s things - and to tell nurses that the woman had died.įrasier: “…and was telling everyone upstairs how sorry she was and she was crying. And her mother was crying, screaming, ‘Please, don’t take me. Frasier said she’ll never forget the day the daughter of a neighbor arrived to move her mother out.įrasier: “…and she came in and told her, you know, ‘Mother, we have to go. Nazario: 86-year-old Helen Frasier is one occupant who’s retained legal counsel and joined the fight to keep the nursing home open. Helen Frasier: “People have died from the shock of being told suddenly that the place is closing.” Before it bankrupts the entire organization, they say, they want to shut it down. Fund executives say the acute-care hospital and long-term nursing home run an annual deficit of about 10-million dollars. They wanted it to serve people in their industry with financial help and medical services at every stage of their lives. Early Hollywood heavyweights Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford established the charitable organization in the 19-20s. Nazario: The Motion Television Picture Fund spells out that promise in its motto, displayed at the entrance of its Woodland Hills property: Taking Care of Our Own. Stellar: “I’m upset that a promise was broken.” Richard Stellar said he’s fighting to keep it open. About seven dozen of them still call this place home. Most people who live at the Fund’s long-term care hospital are well past 80, and frail. Nazario: On this day, her lipstick is red. He said the nursing home staff keeps his mother clean, even on the days she stays in her wheelchair, unaware of her surroundings. The days she’s coherent and engaged with others are few and far between. Nazario: Mary Stellar suffers from severe dementia. Nazario: (laughing) I am cold! (all laughing). She built her Hollywood career as an assistant to Cubby Broccoli, producer of the James Bond films. Nazario: Mary Stellar is a native of Brooklyn. Patricia Nazario: Richard Stellar visits his mother often at the Motion Picture Television Fund’s long-term care nursing facility. You could see the photographs of movies on the wall.” Richard Stellar: “When my mom came here, she thought she was at M-G-M. The MPTF plans to close its long-term nursing home by the end of 2009. Experts call it “transfer trauma.” Some families say that's what's happened at the Motion Picture Television Fund. Seniors who move away from a familiar environment can suffer depression, weight loss or insomnia.

Motion picture television fund