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LAUREL – Community members are putting their money where their mouths are by pledging financial support to keep a nursing home and assisted living center here.
At a meeting last week, nearly 60 people in attendance pledged more than $70,000 toward the cause and are seeking additional pledges from individuals and businesses throughout the area in hopes of raising $1 million in the next few weeks to create their own non-profit facility.
After months of public turmoil, the Laurel City Council voted to close the city-owned Hillcrest Care Center with its last day set for Tuesday, May 13.
According to a budget scenario figured by Brittni Henrich, the new facility would need more than $140,000 a month for 15 residents to start the skilled nursing side and four residents in assisted living.
“This is everything we need to start up bare minimum right away,” she said, factoring in the required number of hours for each type of staff, food, supplies and some minimum maintenance.”That’s not something that’s viable longterm. With the way I set up staffing, we could go up to 20 residents without adding a whole bunch more staffing.”
Henrich is a former registered nurse at Hillcrest and attending classes to become a nursing home administrator.
Where will the money come from? That’s a million-dollar question, said Scott Rath, Laurel.
“It’s going to be an uphill battle. It’s not an easy task,” Rath said. “It’s pretty daunting once you start looking into it. I’m not sugarcoating anything. We need to raise a lot of money.”
The clock is ticking and there’s no guarantees, he said.
“If we raise $1 million, there’s a chance we still might not make it,” Rath said with the need for funds ongoing for quite some time.
The closure impacts 50 employees and 20 residents who resided in skilled nursing and assisted living. The facility is licensed for 36 nursing home residents and seven assisted living residents.
Prior to the March 14 city council meeting, city officials minimized Hillcrest’s financial woes. In January, Hillcrest staff exposed the facility’s financial obligations were swelling year over year to more than $450,000 in open payables. The bills continue to go unpaid despite an increasing line of credit.
Former Hillcrest administrator Megan Wieck made decisions about which vendors got paid. As a result of non-payment, many vendors stopped doing business with the facility.
Staff said they brought their concerns of financial instability and mismanagement to light about two years ago to the nursing home advisory board. After the board started questioning the facility administrator, the council and mayor, the nursing home board was dissolved. In its place, the mayor and city council were tasked with overseeing the center.
The city courted a potential buyer last month but the company ultimately did not follow through with the purchase. The city severed Wieck’s employment March 10.
The city hired Sharon Colling as interim administrator after the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services provided a list of qualified licensed administrators. She started March 14. An interim director of nursing was hired from Helping Hands Nursing Solutions.
The city did not allow any Hillcrest staff to rescind their resignations even though they were willing to come back to work after Wieck’s employment was severed. Staff said two local, qualified individuals offered to work as interim administrator at a much lower pay rate but the city wasn’t open to that.
“They could’ve had all of us there for a fraction of the cost and let us close with some dignity,” said Wendy Krie, former Hillcres registered nurse.
City Administrator Dan Kuhlman did not respond to the Laurel Advocate’s questions about how much the interim administrator and interim director of nursing are being paid.
The facility’s license expires March 31.
If there are still residents in the building that have not found other homes, the license will be renewed, Kuhlman said.
“If that license is not renewed, it’s done,” Rath said. “I’ve had great conversations with the council. They want to help us. They want success.”
If successful, the community committee would form a private, non-profit entity and move forward without city government involvement.
Ideally, the city would donate the building to the community to start the new non-profit nursing home, Rath said. A trio of community members agreed to seek a meeting with the council to discuss that possibility.
At the same time, community members are working on gathering more financial pledges for $1 million to allow for the acquisition of the facility and provide several months of operating expenses while the facility gets back up to full operation.
The community has risen to the need in raising funds for other projects including the new community center, fire hall and ambulance, among others, so there’s no reason to think the community wouldn’t give to the cause, community members said.
Pledges are being accepted until April 1. At that time, the committee will evaluate whether to continue.
“There’s a lot of alumni here. Think of those people, and their parents or grandparents who might have been in the home. Reach out to your brothers and sisters. No amount is too little, if they want to give $100, $500, whatever,” said Lynette Krie, Laurel.
More than 500 envelopes have been stuffed with information about the pledge drive and mailed to local residents. Fliers have also been posted around town. Those interested in pledging can call or text the amount to Erica Diediker at 402-238-8164 or Karen Thompson at 402-375-8521.
The community is also banking on some staff and residents returning to Laurel. Most of the residents who received care at Hillcrest and its staff are from Laurel or the immediate area.
“They’ll come home,” said Laura Showen, former nurse at Hillcrest Care Center. “If we can give the staff (we hope) they will stick around.”
