Show us the money

Dear ER:

Vijay Jeste implies that there is a need for assisted living facilities by referencing statistics from the California Department of Aging, which shows an increase in the California senior population by 2030 (ER Letters, Feb. 6, 2019). These statistics are based on probabilities and are used for state and local government planning purposes only. Health marketing organizations such as BCHD, who have a vested interest in promoting assisted living facility development, use these statistics to convince the public that a growing senior population will need their facilities. To assume that a growing senior population will require more assisted living facilities, let alone high end facilities, is a speculative marketing strategy, not a fact.

Jeste states that the new BCHD “senior housing will generate revenues that will benefit Beach Cities residents.” There has been no data presented to the public that indicates the amount of revenue BCHD expects to receive from these facilities or when those revenues will be available.  Until BCHD releases its detailed financial plans, any suggestion that there will be revenues available for the benefit of Beach Cities residents is pure speculation and marketing.

Sheila W. Lamb

Redondo Beach