Thursday, October 17, 2019

Census Hits 34; Worth County Care & Rehab Gets First VA Patient

The Worth County Care & Rehab Center saw its census rise to 34 residents as of Thursday, Administrator Kelly Summa told the board at their meeting Wednesday. This was the highest it had been in around 10 years. The high was 34 for the month and the low was 28. There were 13 admissions and 6 discharges for September, while there were 5 admissions and 1 discharge so far in October. There were two Part A patients, while there were five Part B and 6 outpatients, with two referrals. At one point, the facility was down to 14 residents. There were referrals from as far away as St. Joseph and North Kansas City. In total, they got eight residents from the closure of the King City facility.

Also, the facility got its first VA patient, and had a lot of queries and interest. The VA will only designate so many facilities as VA facilities based on demographics and need. The facility went through the final hoops, as it went through a VA and a nursing inspection for the facility. The inspectors had positive comments about the friendliness of the facility as well as the cleanliness. The VA has its own transportation for their patients, which means that it will not be an extra burden for the facility.

The facility now has 45 employees. At one point, the facility was down to 28 employees. The ones who work at the facility now have more hours. They also have PRN’s, who they can call on an as-needed basis. Seven employees have come to Worth County from King City.

With the increased census, the facility is now looking for signage. There have been people from out of town with family members in the facility who have had trouble finding it.  Economic Developer Gene Auten has been looking for possible solutions. The facility will use some funds from a special donation that was made some time ago towards the expenses.

The facility got a new washing machine from the closing Afton facility, and King City has been donating items as well. Summa said that they have cleaned out the shed and threw out unneeded or soiled items. She said they were going to bid on some items from Afton as soon as they go online to be auctioned off. One thing that will help is the fact that they don’t have to buy things based on the fire rating.

The sprinkler system was tested and inspected, and the antifreeze didn’t test. It now has to be replaced annually due to new regulations. They can put in new antifreeze annually, or they can go to a powder fire extinguisher system at a cost of $5,000 to $50,000, but not have to do as much maintenance.

For September, revenues were $136,268.33, while expenses were $116,231.66 for a net income of $20,036.67. The Halloween Party will be on October 31st at 2 pm. The family of Marynell Richards donated a bench in her memory to the facility.

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