DOWNEY — Two new facilities currently under construction at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center that will be used to care for homeless patients after they have been discharged from county hospitals, and also patients in need of psychiatric services, officials said this week.

The project, called the Restorative Care Village, broke ground last summer. Construction is expected to wrap up in July with patients moving in this fall. 

“The new Restorative Care Village is a continuation of what Rancho Los Amigos has always set out to do: rebuild lives,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn. “The incredible doctors at Rancho Los Amigos treat patients who have experienced life-changing illnesses and injury and give them hope for their futures. 

“But even after they are discharged, patients need time to recover and adapt to their new normal. This Restorative Care Village is going to make sure that all patients have a place to recover and the support they need to rebuild their lives.”

The project encompasses two separate facilities, both aimed at providing extended healthcare treatment to patients. The facilities will primarily serve patients being discharged from Rancho, county officials said.

One of the facilities, a 50-bed Recuperative Care Center, will provide care and supportive services for people recovering from hospitalization who do not have a place to live and have ongoing medical needs. 

“Too often, unhoused patients are discharged from hospitals only to end up getting sick again on the streets,” county officials said in a statement. “The Recuperative Care Center will provide patients the care they need to recover from hospitalization and the supportive services they need to get connected with long-term housing.”

The second facility is a five building 80-bed Crisis Residential Treatment Program that will provide psychiatric services to individuals being released from county facilities. Uniquely, the Crisis Residential Treatment Program at Rancho will focus on the needs of post-medical trauma patients who have been receiving rehabilitative care and may need help adjusting to cognitive and physical limitations associated with recent physical injuries.

Patients who meet clinical criteria will be transported directly from hospitals to the Recuperative Care Center and Residential Treatment Program for admittance and upon discharge are transported to the next level of appropriate care.  There are no drop-in services allowed or provided at either facility.

The new facilities at Rancho Los Amigos are one of four Restorative Care Villages set to open at county hospitals across Los Angeles County this year.

Downey Mayor Claudia Frometa praised the project, calling the facilities “a step forward in helping some of the most vulnerable patients in our county.” 

“Patients needing extended services will be able to get the specialized medical care and the continued rehabilitation treatment they need and that Rancho Los Amigos is known for in order to rebuild their lives and return to normalcy,” Frometa said. “On behalf of the City of Downey, I commend the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and our Supervisor Janice Hahn, for supporting a project that will be critical in ensuring unsheltered individuals receive the ongoing medical care they need to fully recover.”

Concern

Some residents, however, expressed concern over the project’s location near homes and Apollo Park. 

Laurie Hidalgo lives on Quill Drive and said she and her neighbors were never told the new construction would house transients. 

“I’m appalled we were not notified of this,” Hidalgo said. “This affects the general welfare of every resident that lives in this area, and we weren’t given an opportunity to oppose this. 

“Why couldn't they have done this across Imperial Highway where all that vacant land is owned by the county? Or even down at Los Padrinos, that’s all abandoned now. Why would they build this across from the senior center, across from the new playground?”

Two years ago, Hollydale residents protested after the City of Downey announced plans to build housing for homeless veterans on the city border.

“At least they got to have their voices heard,” Hidalgo said. “Tell me why this was all very hush hush.”

Another resident, John Vasquez, lives on Hondo Street. He said he worried the project would lower the neighborhood’s property values. 

“Who wants to buy a house near a homeless shelter,” he asked rhetorically. “Is the city or the county going to pay me fair market value for my home now? They need to pay me today before values plummet in six months.”

Downey officials said they were unaware of the project’s details because it is under L.A. County’s jurisdiction. Former Downey mayor Mario Guerra, however, said the city could have been more transparent with residents.

“For the city to know what was being built and not engage or tell our residents is very disappointing,” said Guerra, who lives near Rancho. “This type of project, so close to our park and homes, is something that really needed transparency. It’s surprising that the city did not disclose this since it’s been planned for several years. Community input would have been very valuable.”

County officials said the new complex will not be fenced or locked because it is being treated as an extension of the hospital.

“It is not a locked facility—instead it is like a regular hospital with patients who are checked in through the appropriate avenues and supervised by the clinical staff,” said Liz Odendahl, spokesperson for Janice Hahn. “There is no fence around the facility because it is a hospital, not a jail, and these are hospital patients inside. It is essentially an extension of the greater Rancho campus.”