A big meeting for the future of the Nursing Home (resource page) is tonight and the News-Gazette has two articles and an editorial in support of selling the Nursing Home to a private owner rather than make cuts to the budget. Links and excerpts below:
Nursing home manager: Census up, losses down, new services on way
The census is up and net losses are down at the Champaign County Nursing Home, the facility's new manager said Monday.
And more improvements are coming, promised Suzanne Koenig, the president of SAK Management Services, which took over the day-to-day operations of the troubled nursing home on July 1.
The average daily census in October was 136, up from 132 in September and August. Monthly net losses have dropped from almost $170,000 in July to $123,000 in September.
Time to sell the nursing home
The latest news from the Champaign County Nursing home was a disappointing, but not surprising, call to action that county board Democrats ought not continue to ignore.
The facility is a costly failure, more so by the month and to the point it's putting other county operations in danger.
When will the entire 22-member board accept the result of the April vote that rejected a tax increase for the nursing home and called for the sale of the failing facility? Don't hold your breath.
As of now, the board is looking into widespread layoffs of county employees who provide duties required by state statute to maintain the nursing home — which is not a required government service.
County officials say it will require $1.4 million in spending cuts and layoffs to keep the nursing home afloat through next year. Not only is that kind of budget cutting disgustingly difficult, it would also be unnecessary if the board would finally recognize financial failure.
Administrator: Champaign County's budget-cutting options 'not good'
Snider, in a memo to county board members, made it clear he doesn't support the cuts.
"None of these options are desirable," he wrote.
Among the items on the list:
— $387,786 set aside for replacement radios for the sheriff's office, to replace units that are 11 years old.
— $272,000 to replace the county's 40-year-old software system for human resources and financial management.
— $236,600 for the county Youth Assessment Center, a diversion program for at-risk youth. "There is other funding that comes in, but that cut would be devastating," Snider said. "I don't think the program would continue with that kind of a cut."
— $83,333 for the re-entry council, which works to reduce recidivism. "That one definitely would be out. That would allow it to operate for the first two months of the year to finish out our contract with them. But after that, it would be done," Snider explained.
— $70,000 cut from the county clerk's budget for elections administration. County Clerk Gordy Hulten said earlier that would mean consolidating 14 of the county's 96 polling places for both elections next year and eliminating all early voting locations except his office at the Brookens Center.
— The county's $15,000 contribution to the Economic Development Corporation, $10,000 to the Visit Champaign County tourism bureau and $5,000 to the Community Coalition, which helps coordinate issues involving youth and families.
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