Residents at senior care community living without air conditioning

An elderly couple living at Monterey Palms Assisted Living in Palm Desert say it’s too hot to bear in their home.

Rosalie Gardea is in her 70’s. She and her husband live in the facility, and they said they haven’t had air conditioning in weeks.

“It’s been so hot and I keep telling them, ‘Fix the air. I need the air fixed,” Gardea said.

The administration has provided quick fixes, she said, like evaporative coolers and free-standing floor fans. But she said that isn’t doing the trick.

Gardeas’s husband, Trinidad, has dementia and Alzheimer’s. He has a fan next to his bed, but they said they’re still too hot.

The couple’s daughter, Anna Gardea, came to KESQ & CBS Local 2 for help.

“(My dad) doesn’t realize how hot it can get in his room and he just sits in the heat and he’s sweating, he’s dehydrated…they do bring water to them,” Anna said.

She said the managers tell her it’s just technical issues that are being repaired.

“It’s like sitting in a sauna,” Anna said. “I went to visit them last week and I was there less than 5 minutes and I was dripping in sweat.”

When Rosalie talks to the management, she said they haven’t done anything.

“They pass the buck,” Rosalie said. “‘We let Ernie know or we let so-and-so know, and it’s going from one place to another and nothing gets fixed.”

We reached out to the Monterey Palms’ parent company, and a spokesperson told us, “We work extremely hard to provide a safe, secure and home-like environment for all our residents” … and “We look forward to working closely on the particular issues raised by the resident who contacted KESQ.”

That representative also said the facility staff has been waiting on a part to repair the air conditioning and it is expected to be fixed by Friday.