AIDS CARE: Belmont Hospice Closure Delayed Two Weeks
"San Mateo County's only AIDS hospice has won a two-week reprieve in a funding crisis that threatened to shut it down on Saturday," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Ever since Belmont House lost $245,000 in funding from Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco last November, local advocates have been seeking the $120,000 necessary to keep the hospice's doors open through June. San Mateo County's AIDS Program has promised $40,000, and Belmont city officials are appealing to neighboring cities to provide the remaining $80,000. The six-bed Belmont House provides medical assistance to individuals diagnosed with less than six months to live and without private means to support their care. The hospice currently houses five people in advanced stages of AIDS-related illness. The Chronicle reports that if officials are able keep Belmont House open, "representatives from Catholic Charities, the county AIDS Program and Belmont will study ways to cut costs and possibly change the hospice's mission. Alternatives may include opening the doors to patients who need less care in order to cut around-the-clock nursing costs," the Chronicle reports (Wilson, 1/28).
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