The Worth County Nursing Home broke even last month as the number of residents fluctuated from 33 to 37 residents; they are currently at 36 residents. The cost per resident was $112.82, which was $17 over June’s figures. Administrator Charlie Green said that more money would come in from Medicare billing after he got the necessary paperwork. He said that it would take time to iron out the bugs in the budget, but that it gave a good general idea of what should be spent. A lightning strike that knocked out a panel to the generator will cost the facility a $1,000 deductible; the other $2,500 of the replacement cost was insured.
The board approved a resident-council adopted dog policy for the facility; Board President Scott Houk said that it struck a good balance between allowing residents who derived therapeutic benefits from animals to continue to enjoy them and consideration for residents and employees who were allergic to animals.
There was only one bid for the roof; the board, after waiting another month to see if other bids would come in, voted to accept the $4,951 bid from Campbell Construction of Grant City; costs for plywood and sheets are additional.
The tax rate was set for 35 cents.
The board adopted a new mission statement for the facility which states that the center will provide quality care with compassion and understanding the individualities of each of their residents. The statement emphasizes that the center is a home and a place to live and a place where the rights and privileges of the residents would be protected.
Paul Pouliter of the Missouri Healthcare Association and the president of the region addressed the board about the benefits of joining the association; the board had previously begun a trial membership for two months which started in August. He said that some of the main benefits of belonging to the association include having a strong voice in the legislative process, regular trainings for administrators, employees, and board members, a membership in the national association, professional recognition for employees, networking, and regional activities for residents. For instance, the association puts on the Golden Age Games in St. Joseph at Missouri Western State University. Houk said that one of the most important aspects of belonging to the association was the networking aspect; "We’re sitting between 33 and 36 residents, and we’ve got to find ways of generating more income," he said. Green said that he found that another benefit was the ability to put beds up for sale so that the facility could get down to a 50-bed license instead of 60.
Secretary Jozy Moyer reported that she had gotten inquiries for daycare for residents who were being cared for by family members and asked for guidelines for what to charge. She said that one advantage to providing daycare was that it would reduce the shock value to residents when they get sent to the Nursing Home; board member Kaye Havner said that it would provide a good community service. Green said that he had inquired at various homes and that they had ranged from anywhere from $20 per day to $92 for 8-10 hours. Board member Bill Calhoon said that one potential problem was if 8-10 people dropped people off for daycare, meaning that the facility would have to hire extra help to manage the workload. And Havner noted that some people would require watching more than others. The board delegated board member Martha Rush to work with Green and Moyer on a possible policy for elderly daycare.
The board voted to purchase blood testing equipment so that the facility could do blood draws on site rather than have to drive down to Albany to do it. Green said that it would reduce liability for employees who had to transport the samples, allow for more time on work, allow the facility to know results on the spot and take quicker action, and eliminate charges from the hospital for doing the work. Green said that hospitals might charge more than what Part A allows and that in 12 to 18 months, the purchase would pay for itself.
Board President Scott Houk gave a state of the facility address to the board and administrators. He said that while the facility was out of immediate danger, they still had to change in order to generate more revenues. "We can sit on our hands and hope we get 40-45 people, or we can figure out what we can do differently to get more revenues," he said. He said that the board should look into offering assisted care. Although the board had previously considered and rejected such an option, Houk said that they should look at it again. "We’re assuming that we can’t do it," said Houk. "It’s not like we were 30-40 years ago when we could just sit on our hands and take in residents. Now, we are fighting for survival."
Other people present pointed out other variables. Calhoon said that the fact that baby boomers were retiring would provide more residents and more income. Rush said that assisted living was a blanket statement, while visitor Jerry Dignan pointed out that it takes a lot more room to offer assisted living. Houk acknowledged that there were a lot of unknowns but that "until we generate more income, we can’t retain our employees."
Houk and other board members also addressed the question of earmarks. The problem with earmarking money, as noted by Calhoon, is that it means that the facility would have a lack of flexibility on how to spend money. For instance, the facility recently had to spend $1,000 to replace four beds in order to become compliant with the state; "if you need a new bed, you need a new bed," he said. Another example, as noted by board member Wilbur Osborne, was the entryway, which he said needed fixing up.
Board member Boyd Pickering asked about the current freeze on the employee pay raises. "Everything has gone up," he said. Calhoon said that at the time the board made the decision to freeze raises, they promised that they would lift the freeze "if the funds were available." The board went into closed session to discuss personnel issues that were related to the freeze.
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