ADULT CENTER TO STAY OPEN.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

VALENCIA - On the last day of service at the popular Adult Day Health Center, Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital officials announced that another organization would take over the program, beginning today.

Burbank-based Partners in Care Foundation, through its nonprofit Visiting Nurse Home Services, will operate from the hospital campus location until a new site in the Santa Clarita Valley can be found.

``We're just delighted and thrilled,'' said hospital spokeswoman Lisa Foust. ``It pained us to have to close the program in the first place.''

Partners in Care Chief Operating Officer James Cook, who started the center at Newhall Memorial as a social worker 11 years ago, said he hoped the new program could eventually serve even more adults.

``I'm really excited to see the program saved and that these patients are not going to have to be in nursing homes and board-and-cares,'' said Cook, who also lives in Santa Clarita. ``(I) wanted the program to be saved.''

Two weeks ago, the hospital announced it was closing the center, the only one of its kind in Santa Clarita, along with six other outpatient programs, and eliminating 79 jobs as part of cost-cutting measures.

The cash-strapped hospital is trying to cut $5 million from its annual budget after falling in the red last fiscal year.

Families of some of the center's 85 regulars, some suffering from dementia, stroke conditions or with other health needs, said they relied on the center to provide care and a social outlet for loved ones.

With a new provider stepping in, service will continue today for the center's clients, some of whose family members had been rallying over the past two weeks to find care.

The center's 10 employees will initially retain their jobs as part of the transition, Foust said.

Wednesday was also the last day on the job for many of the employees in other areas of hospital services whose jobs were being eliminated.

Foust said most employees, who were being offered a standard severance package, stayed with the hospital until the final day, and finished out their shifts.

For the next month, the adult center will continue operating at the hospital until ownership is transferred to the new provider on March 1.

Cook said it's been a quick time line trying to step in and take over the facility, but he was confident his foundation would be able to work through the details to establish a viable center.

Cook, who went on to become the hospital's director of continuity and care after serving as program director at the adult center, left the hospital in 1998 to join Partners in Care.

He said the company is looking for a new location for the program, and he hopes to serve more adults than those currently enrolled.