The board of Lake County's Redbud Health Care District voted to revoke its annual grant award for Hospice Services of Lake County, now operating under the new name Lake Circle of Care, after the nonprofit failed to carry out programs it promised when it sought the money earlier this year. The decision came at the district's monthly board meeting on Oct. 27, revoking the organization's annual district grant and leaving it facing a demand to return money from a prior grant cycle.
According to the Lake County Record-Bee, the district board denied a separate request from the nonprofit for a grant extension and carryover of funding into the next fiscal year, directed the organization to reapply for any future grant funding, and told it to return the prior year's grant funds. The board also agreed to revisit the matter at its Nov. 10 meeting. The newspaper's reporting does not specify the dollar amount involved in the revoked or returned funding, nor does it detail the exact vote breakdown among board members.
Scott McFarland, Lake Circle of Care's chief executive and finance officer, had written a letter dated Oct. 13 requesting the extension and carryover, which he co-signed with Michelle Elola, the organization's director of family and community supports. The two presented that letter together at the board meeting, the Record-Bee reports.
A Proposal That Didn't Match What Happened
Back in February, Hospice Services of Lake County had requested grant funding under a proposal that looked different from prior years' requests, according to the same Record-Bee account. That February request — written by Jennifer Nystrom and logged by the district as RFA 2026-0015 on its board meeting page — proposed using grant funds for two one-day camps, six family dinners, and expanded educational offerings and presence in local schools.
The proposed activities were not fully implemented within the original grant period, the Record-Bee reports. The organization's planned camp was put on a temporary hold instead; McFarland said the pause was meant to let the program reach more families than a three-day camp format could serve. Elola told the board that her current focus is ensuring children are served, and that she is considering a one-day camp going forward.
Board Members Press on the Name Change
Several board members used the meeting to question the organization's rebranding from Hospice Services of Lake County to Lake Circle of Care. Jim Scholz, the district's second vice president, called for an explanation of events and described the change as shocking, per the Record-Bee's account of the meeting. Secretary Sue Burton, who has volunteered with the hospice organization in the past, expressed concern about the name change and what it entailed, and said she felt responsible for taxpayer dollars and intake. Board member Conrad Colbrandt also raised questions about the implications of the name change.
McFarland attributed the organization's operating difficulties to changes in state hospice regulations and increased oversight responding to concerns about fraudulent hospice operations, saying those regulatory shifts have made nonprofit operation in the hospice sector harder. Scott German, an auditor with Fechter and Sons, told the board that lack of awareness about the hospice organization's work had been a persistent issue for years.
Why the District's Grant Rules Matter Here
Redbud Health Care District says on its grant program page that its process is initiated upon receiving a Request For Assistance from nonprofit organizations involved in health care programs, and that the primary requirements for funding are nonprofit status, benefit to district residents, and a board finding that the program is necessary. The district also says all such requests are reviewed by the board in meetings open to the public, with agenda items posted under the Brown Act.
The regulatory backdrop McFarland referenced traces back to state-level action on hospice oversight. California maintains a general moratorium on new hospice licenses, according to bill text tracked by California Legislative Information, which also requires the state to adopt emergency regulations implementing recommendations from a California State Auditor report on hospice licensure and oversight. Separately, the California Hospice Licensure Act of 1990 requires anyone providing hospice services to a person in the last phase of a terminal condition to hold a state license, per the same legislative record.
That moratorium carries direct local consequences: Lake County has a moratorium on creating new hospice entities, meaning Lake Circle of Care will remain the only hospice operator in the county until the moratorium is lifted, the Record-Bee reports. Wings of Hope, an affiliated program, operates school counseling services providing one-on-one grief counselors to students who have suffered a loss, according to the newspaper's reporting.
Hospice Services of Lake County traces its roots to November 1979, when more than 60 volunteers established a hospice in the county; the organization became a California nonprofit corporation the following year, according to its own history page. It began serving patients and families in 1981 and earned Medicare and Medi-Cal hospice certification by 1989, per that same account. The board's planned return to the issue at its Nov. 10 meeting leaves the funding dispute, and the organization's path forward under its new name, still unresolved.
