Officials reflect on the switch to frozen food for Merced County seniors

The jury is still out on whether serving frozen meals to Merced County’s homebound senior citizens really works.

It’s been six months since the county swapped hot meals for frozen entrees in a cost-saving measure. The county’s Human Services Agency oversees the program, which delivers food to the homes of seniors who are 60 and older or confined to their homes due to illness, incapacity or disability.

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in August to switch to frozen food after HSA staff said it would save the county $80,000 a year. The frozen deliveries began landing on the doorsteps of seniors in October.

Since the county got rid of hot meals, 14 seniors have dropped out of the home-delivery meal program. There were 139 seniors in the program as of February, county officials said, down from 153 in October.

County spokesman Mike North said the number of participants fluctuates for many reasons: Seniors leave the program, their health improves, they move away or become hospitalized. HSA Director Ana Pagan could not be reached for comment.

The switch to frozen food raised controversy in August. Advocates worried senior citizens in the program, many of whom are partially blind or use wheelchairs, wouldn’t be able to operate a microwave to cook the meals. Others said delivery drivers provided a daily welfare check and companionship to lonely seniors five days a week.

Switching to frozen meals meant the seniors would receive only one visit each week.

The county’s solution to losing the daily interaction provided by the delivery of hot meals was starting a volunteer program. Pagan hired a “volunteer coordinator” to spearhead the effort: Nancy Young-Bergman.

Young-Bergman was paid $50 an hour to do the job until her hourly rate was cut to $40 last month. Young-Bergman voluntarily asked for a salary reduction so she could work more hours, according to North. She averages 77 hours a month. The contract is capped at $50,000 a year, Pagan said previously.

Young-Bergman’s duties include recruiting, screening, interviewing and training volunteers for all HSA programs. For the senior meals program, officials said, Young-Bergman visited seniors to assess if they can use a microwave and if they own a freezer.

Of the 139 seniors who were surveyed, only 31 requested companionship from a volunteer. About 24 people have signed up to be volunteers, according to HSA Deputy Director Michelle Roe. Though it’s been six months since the switch, the home visits haven’t started yet because the volunteers are still in training. The visits are expected to begin this month, Roe said.

Atwater resident Richard Paulsen has been in the program for two years and said he doesn’t want daily home visits, but would like someone to chat with on the phone. The 78-year-old said he lives alone.

Paulsen said he didn’t quit the meals program because he has no alternative, but said he misses the fresh food.

“It’s OK. It’s not as good as the fresh ones, and there are no salads,” Paulsen said. “We used to get peaches, occasionally. Now the only fruit we get is applesauce. It doesn’t taste as good, but I can’t cook and I’d just have to go buy more frozen food.”

Sandy Thompson, a caregiver to 76-year-old Gregorio Crisostomo, said he doesn’t mind the frozen food. Crisostomo is deaf, diabetic and has a lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe.

“It’s been going better for us because when he gets hungry, he goes and picks out what he wants and heats it up,” Thompson said. “He thinks the frozen meals are better because we don’t have to worry about them coming (to deliver food) while we go to the doctor.”

Roe said in an email that the county has received both positive and negative feedback from seniors about the frozen food. Seniors enjoy the flexibility of choosing their own meal each day, she said, but some have complained the chicken is dry. She said staff has educated seniors on how to properly heat up the food.

Merced County receives state and federal funding for the senior meals program, but Pagan said it doesn’t cover daily welfare checks for seniors. Hot meals are still served to seniors at numerous congregate sites around the county, and there are no plans to switch those to frozen food.

This story was originally published March 16, 2015 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Officials reflect on the switch to frozen food for Merced County seniors."