San Diego Community Newspaper Group
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2008
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 22, Number 53
Sharp Cabrillo plans to shutter PL skilled nursing site in April of capacity in the county.” There are 82 other skilled nursLocal residents seeking post- ing facilities in the county, 45 of treatment care at the Sharp Cabril- which are within a 15-mile radius lo Skilled Nursing Facility in Point of Sharp Memorial Hospital in Loma will have to look beyond Kearny Mesa. And of the patients their own backyard next year. The discharged from Sharp Memorial 76-bed facility will close when its who required additional care, 35 percent were sent to Sharp Cabrillease expires April 3. lo Skilled Nursing “Operations Facility – the have been at a other 65 percent significant loss,” were sent to the said John Cihom82 non-Sharp sky, vice presifacilities. dent of public Sharp Cabrillo relations for provided acute Sharp Cabrillo. care in Point Cihomsky said Loma until 1999. many factors The facility now forced the decihandles only sion to close the patients who facility, including have received the age and treatment at maintenance JOHN CIHOMSKY Sharp Memorial costs of the SHARP CABRILLO SPOKESMAN and require care building, low afterward. insurance reim“They’re not bursement rates ready to go home for treatment, high utility costs, increased medi- but don’t need to be in an acutecal supply costs and lease expens- care hospital bed,” Cihomsky said. Currently, Sharp Cabrillo has es. In addition, Cihomsky said the about 70 patients, with an average skilled nursing center lost about $7 patient stay of 23 days. The patients who have already been million last year. “We looked at the losses and admitted into the facility will not what the market has as capacity be affected by the closing, said hosfor these patients,” Cihomsky said. “We saw that there was an excess SEE NURSING, Page 3 BY ANTHONY GENTILE | THE BEACON
Patients want the latest technology, and the money that we don’t have to spend in places we don’t need to is best for the overall organization.
PLHS students make a statement More than two dozen students from Point Loma High School (PLHS) and other area campuses braved rainy conditions on Dec. 22 during a student-organized walk against violence. Students gathered at Cleator Community Park and walked with a police escort to Spanish Landing to help raise community awareness of teen violence and loss. The idea was conceived after dual tragedies that claimed the lives of two PLHS students in recent weeks. Prisma Mejia, 15, was killed in a vehicle accident Nov. 29. About a week later, Michael Taylor, also 15, was shot to death in a gang-related shooting while leaving a party near Valencia Park. PHOTOS BY PAUL HANSEN | THE BEACON
West City Campus to open amid belt-tightening BY SEBASTIAN RUIZ | THE BEACON
City steps up to counter thieves Supporters of Sunset Cliffs Natural Park, joined by District 2 City Councilman Kevin Faulconer (fourth from left), city Park and Recreation Department officials and neighbors, gathered Dec. 22 to unveil replacement signs for Sunset Cliffs Natural Park. The four original signs were stolen from posts along Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and various points around the park in September. The signs cost COURTESY PHOTO | THE BEACON about $5,000 to replace.
The new Continuing Education West City Campus in Point Loma is set to open in January but it is already faced with state budget cuts that could limit the number of teachers and students the new building would serve. The San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) has stopped hiring new administrators and instructors while, at the same time, reduced the number of classes it offers. The moves are in anticipation of midyear budget cuts expected from California state legislators early next year. The state is trying to close an estimated $15 billion fiscal gap, according to published news reports. The cuts could force the
SDCCD’s brand-new West City Campus, 3249 Fordham St., to cut courses and services for students, said Anthony Beebe, president of the San Diego Community College District’s Continuing Education Department. The campus would help train chefs and workers for related industries. He said the budget cuts could slow job training if continuing education teacher positions go unfilled. “We have [student] waiting lists,” Beebe said. “Those waiting lists would allow for new sections, but without new sections, those people would have to wait a little longer.” West City Campus opens for spring enrollment in January, he said. The campus is part of the dis-
trict’s “Campuses of Excellence” program. The program has six continuing education campuses that specialize in various fields, Beebe said. The West City Campus would offer equipment such as full-size kitchens and digital monitors for culinary students training in hospitality and cooking industries. “We’ve made about $5 million in budget cuts and actual continuing expenditures. Everybody is pretty much tightening their belts,” said Rich Grosch, a Point Loma resident and president of the San Diego Community College Board of Trustees. The community college board wants to avoid layoffs with no “rollbacks” to pay and no reduction of benefits for community SEE WEST CITY, Page 4
from all of us at the
Peninsula Beacon Happy Holidays!