MPTF Questions and Answers
What exactly is the Motion Picture & Television Fund Changing?
Why are you closing the hospital and long-term care facility?
How can you just abandon the long-term care service you've offered for 50 years?
Aren't you breaking the industry's commitment to take care of its own?
Why can't you let the current patients live out their lives in the nursing home and then close it?
Why can't you use the $150 million investment fund money to keep the nursing home open?
How many industry members will be affected by these changes?
How are you evaluating placement possiblities? Are the families being consulted?
What if you can't find an alternative nursing home that is satisfactory to a patient and his or her family?
How will you help seniors age in place? What exactly do you plan to do?
What type of long-term care will MPTF now provide?
What exactly is the Motion Picture & Television Fund changing?
For nearly 90 years, the Motion Picture & Television Fund has been
the entertainment community’s social safety net, embodying Hollywood’s
unique commitment to take care of its own. As MPTF looks to the future,
it faces new challenges—in particular, the skyrocketing cost of
providing long-term care, growing shortfalls in government
reimbursement, and the desire of today’s active seniors to live safely
and independently at home for as long as possible. To meet these
challenges, MPTF is realigning its priorities, putting new emphasis on
its ability to help seniors “age in place” through a community-based
team approach that brings care to them, rather than making them come to
us. As part of this realignment, MPTF will be phasing out its
acute-care hospital and long-term care unit over the course of 2009. At
the same time, MPTF is making plans to expand its independent- and
assisted-living residential programs.
Why are you closing the hospital and long-term care facility?
With operating costs skyrocketing and government reimbursement
declining, the hospital and LTC unit are draining our resources at an
alarming rate. Currently, hospital/LTC expenses outstrip what the state
and individuals can pay by more than $10 million a year—and the gap is
expected to widen. The entertainment community depends on MPTF for a
wide range of social and medical services—everything from healthcare to
emergency financial assistance to childcare and family counseling. If
MPTF doesn’t do something to stem these deficits, pretty soon it won’t
be able to do anything.
MPTF has offered long-term care for 50 years. How can you just abandon this type of service?
Our mission is to meet the health and human services needs of the
Southern California entertainment community. As the community’s needs
change, so do the types of services we offer. Moreover, we have a
fiduciary responsibility to make sure that MPTF will be around to
provide for future generations. But closing the long-term care facility
does NOT mean MPTF is abandoning its historical commitment to industry
veterans and their families. We will continue to support Fund-eligible
seniors who need long-term care. Except for those who move out of the
area, all patients displaced by the closure of the LTC unit—as well as
those who might need long-term care in the future—will, if they choose
to participate in our community care program, receive regular visits by
MPTF doctors, nurses, and social workers.
Aren’t you breaking the industry’s commitment to take care of its own?
We’re not breaking our commitment—we’re enhancing it by acting to
ensure that MPTF will be around to provide for future generations. The
Fund’s commitment to take care of its own remains as strong as ever.
We’ll still be there for our people to make sure they get the care they
need and deserve. Moreover, by emphasizing a community-based approach
to senior care, MPTF will not only be able to stay on a solid financial
footing, it will also be able to assist many more retirees than it does
now—thousands rather than hundreds.
Why can’t you let the current patients live out their lives in the nursing home and then close it?
If we could, we would. Unfortunately, as the patient population
declines, costs do NOT drop proportionately. Within a very short time,
continuing to operate the LTC facility would drain our resources to the
point where all our other services would be affected.
MPTF is sitting on a $150 million investment fund. Why can’t you use that money to keep the nursing home open?
For one thing, the fund is currently worth less than $130 million. For
another, half of those assets are pledged against our long-term debt,
so we really have just $65 million or so at our disposal. If we were to
continue using that money to subsidize the hospital and LTC facility,
it would all be gone within three or four years.
How many industry members will be affected by these changes?
Approximately 100 LTC patients will have to be transferred to new facilities.
How are you evaluating placement possibilities? Are the families being consulted?
We are evaluating what’s best for every patient on an individual basis.
We will work closely with them and their families to do everything we
can to ensure a safe and successful transition for everyone. No one
will be abandoned.
What if you can’t find an alternative nursing home that is satisfactory to a patient and his or her family?
We are confident that we will find suitable accommodations for everyone.
You talk about expanding your ability to help seniors age in place. What does this mean? What exactly do you plan to do?
We are developing a network of Community Care Teams, along with the
infrastructure to support them. These teams, which will include MPTF
doctors, nurses, and social workers, will be available to support
Fund-eligible seniors in Southern California, whether they are in their
own homes, in retirement communities, or in outside nursing homes, to
make sure they are getting the care they need. In addition, we plan to
replace the outdated Frances Goldwyn Lodge and the cottages on the
middle campus with spacious new independent-living and assisted-living
centers and we intend to build a new Harry’s Haven with more beds than
the current facility to provide memory care.
What type of long-term care will MPTF now provide?
MPTF will continue to honor its historical commitment to industry
veterans and their families. We will provide medical and social service
support to all Fund-eligible patients who need long-term care. Patients
displaced by the closure of the LTC facility as well as those who might
need long-term care in the future will be able, if they choose, to
receive regular visits by MPTF doctors, nurses, and social workers who
will ensure they’re getting the care they need.
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