Buena Vida Adult Day Care Center to Close

The first adult day care center in Texas is closing its doors after 37 years of service. A new round of Medicaid cuts has left Lutheran Social Services no choice but close Buena Vida before the end of the year. This is the third significant funding loss in six years.

Four years ago a key financial supporter of Buena Vida, the United Way, slashed all it’s funding. Then two years later, Medicaid cut funding. This year, Medicaid cut funding again, this time by 10percent, and now Buena Vida just can’t find the money to pay its bills.

Medicaid is expanding specifically the Star Plus Program which covers seniors with disabilities. Expansion in Medicaid services means there’s less money to pay service providers which translates to less money in Buena Vida’s bank account.

Before the recent 10 percent Medicaid cut, Buena Vida was already losing about $45,000 this year. After the cut, Lutheran Social Services tells me the losses would have doubled to nearly $90,000 in lost funding. This is sad news, Buena Vida was the first adult day care center in Texas, that since 1975, offered hundreds of seniors a place to socialize and be cared for.

“We’ve got a long history here in El Paso,” said Foster in Texas Vice President Scott Carroll. “We’ve got support from the community in terms of providing the extra money that we think it is worth it. But because of these continued cuts we just don’t see a way we can keep it going.”

ABC 7 asked three other adult day care centers in El Paso about these cuts, New Horizons, Bien Vivir Senior Health, and La Victora. They all say, they’re feeling the loss in funding, but are able to work around it or absorb it completely. For Buena Vida though, it’s much too late for them to bounce back.