Supporters of the imperiled “nursing home for the stars” in Hollywood, CA, are hopeful this week that new leadership at the Motion Picture and Television Fund, which runs the long-term care facility, will be a good sign for the residents.

Bob Pisano, current interim president and CEO, reportedly has been elected chairman of the MPTF, according to a report from Hollywoodnews.com this week. Citing monetary woes, the MPTF announced in January of 2009 that it would shutter its long-term care facility, which at the time served roughly 100 of Hollywood’s on- and off-screen artists. The announcement sparked a heated controversy, which led to the resignation of fund CEO Dr. David Tillman in February of this year. (McKnight’s, 2/4/10)

Supporters of the long-term care facility, which now has just 55 residents, were quick to call on the new chairman to save the home. In a statement also released Wednesday, Nancy Biederman, co-founder of the group Saving the Lives of Our Own, which has fought to keep the home open, said that she and her organization “look forward to working with Mr. Pisano for the good of the residents and the Motion Picture and Television Fund,” Hollywoodnews.com reported.

The MPTF was founded by noted actors Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and others as a safety net for actors and crew who had fallen on hard times.