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August 2011
In This Issue
Local Hero Joins Hillside House Board
Fiesta Time!
Romma Becomes a Nurse
CAHF Says Challenges Ahead
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Local Hero Joins Hillside House Board

Ernesto Paredes

Ernesto Paredes has just joined the Board of Directors of Hillside House. Recognized as a "Local Hero" by the Santa Barbara Independent and the recipient of an "Everyday Hero" National Award by Court TV, Paredes grew up in Santa Barbara and has been devoted to the community ever since. Having served in leadership positions with numerous non-profits and community groups, he received the Pacific Coast Business Times' 40 under 40 award and a Distinguished Leaders Award from Leadership Santa Barbara County.

 

Paredes was Associate Executive Director for Easy Lift Transportation for ten years. A non-profit, Easy Lift provides specialized transportation services in Santa Barbara county, furthering the independence of people who have challenges getting out into the community, including the residents of Hillside House. As a community volunteer, Paredes has served on the boards of many non-profits, including the Family Service Agency, Rehabilitation Institute, as co-president of the board of the Nonprofit Support Center, and currently as both chair of the leadership committee of Special Olympics in Santa Barbara and chair of the Leadership Council of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).

 

In 2001 Paredes became Executive Director of CASA of Santa Barbara County. Currently, he has returned to Easy Lift as Executive Director.

 

Paredes has been married to his wife Jenifer for 20 years and has two children, Peyton and Reyna. He is an avid triathlete and has completed five Ironman Triathlons.

 

Pam Flynt Tambo, Executive Director of Hillside House, said, "We are very grateful to have Ernesto Paredes join the Board. He has been so active in the Santa Barbara community, and he understands the needs of people with disabilities. His breadth of experience with non-profits and his commitment to helping others will be very valuable to us."

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Fiesta Time!  

 

Fiesta Parade in Santa BarbaraEvery year Santa Barbara celebrates Old Spanish Days Fiesta in style, and our residents join the party. There are lots of activities every day, including carnivals, food booths, parades, a rodeo, flamenco dancers and much more. Residents took part in many fiesta activities and particularly enjoyed the annual parade on State Street while sipping virgin margaritas. Residents and staff made ceviche with tomatoes and herbs from the residents' garden and also decorated Hillside House with beautiful "fiesta flowers" crafted out of coffee filters!

 

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Romma Becomes a Nurse 

 

Romma

Romma Murphy, formerly Romma Padilla, likes working at Hillside House. She began her employment here in 2004 when she was hired by Gail Metzger in the Client Services department to work directly with our residents. In 2006 she became a Qualified Mental Retardation Professional (QMRP). The title of this position is now Qualified Developmental Disabilities Professional (QDDP), but the job is still fundamentally what most of the social services profession refers to as a Case Manager. Hillside House has two Case Managers, who divide the management of the care and treatment of our residents between them.

 

Romma liked Hillside House from the beginning. In particular, she liked the way the staff interact with one another. "It's more like a family than a business," she said, "and after working with the residents for eight hours, you leave with a really nice rewarding feeling." "Between the staff and the residents, it is a great place to work."

 

Even as a child, Romma had always thought that she might like to be a nurse, but she went to UCSB and, as she said, "Life happens and I became a psychology major." She added, "so when I mentioned that to the nurses at Hillside House they said I could still become one and I realized I could still work at Hillside House as a nurse." "So I started taking nursing classes and switched back to working in Client Services because I could do that part time."

 

Now Romma is a Licensed Vocational Nurse, and she has been employed at Hillside House in that capacity since July of this year. When asked how she is enjoying the medical side of resident care she replied, "I just love it! It's totally different but I can see how the departments work together to make good lives for the residents." " And the other nurses at Hillside House have made the transition easy for me and offered lots of helpful guidance."

 

Romma also works part time at Casa Dorinda, a nursing home in Montecito, to get a varied experience, but she feels her home is at Hillside House with her family composed of staff and residents.

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CAHF Says Challenges Ahead   

 

Gail with RubenOn August 10, the California Association of Health Facilities (CAHF), of which Hillside House is a member, issued a memorandum about the 10% Medi-Cal provider rate cut, which is heavily impacting providers like Hillside House.  Medi-Cal was providing 87% of our income before the sudden rate reduction, which CAHF is calling "unprecedented." The rate reduction went into effect on June 1 of this year, costing Hillside House $212,000 in income for 2011 with a loss of $350,000 in our income projected for next year.

 

From the CAHF memo: "Intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled (ICF/DD) providers, who depend primarily on Medicaid (Medi-Cal) revenues, are facing an unprecedented reduction in payments. As of June 1, California enacted a permanent 10% Medi-Cal payment reduction for ICF/DD providers, based on the 2008-2009 reimbursements rates. Reimbursement rates have been frozen for these providers since 2008-2009....For all facilities, there will be significant impact on cash flow."  

 

CAHF urges: "All stakeholders are encouraged to work proactively to support alternatives and contingencies that can help providers sustain uninterrupted services to residents in spite of these difficult financial times." To learn more about our efforts to meet this challenge, read our upcoming Annual Report, which will be arriving in your mailbox soon, or feel free to call us. Curtis Lauber, Development Director, can be reached at (805) 687-0788 x15.

 

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1235 Veronica Springs Rd.
Santa Barbara, California 93105
(805) 687-0788
www.hillsidehousesb.org