Publicly funded county nursing homes have faced many challenges in recent years. Financial and management issues are driving some counties to seek to sell their homes.
For many local families, the Stephenson County Nursing Center is a haven and a viable option for residents that rely on public assistance to pay for their care.
A Family Affair
On a recent Monday morning, Clyde Cole assisted his uncle Joseph Davis in his wheelchair, when they spotted a popular staff member at the Stephenson County Nursing Center.
“This is one of the people that makes this place exciting,” Cole said.”
“I call her Bingo Brenda,” Davis added.
Brenda Rothschadl, the activities director for over a decade, hosts residents' favorite game – Bingo - every day at the center.
The 85-year-old Davis has lived in what was formerly called Walnut Acres for five years now, since slipping in the bathtub at his previous residence.
At the center he received rehab, then long-term care.
In the home, Davis lives closest to his nephew.
“We have a bond because I'm the one that is committed to caring for him. He likes me,” Cole said.
Reporter: “And you like him?”
“Yeah, we have a good relationship,” Cole said.
Joseph Davis also has ties to Freeport.
“That's where I was born and began my life,” Davis said.
The youngest of seven, Davis, a NIU graduate, left home as soon as he could and traveled around the world.
“I did what I wanted to do in life,” Davis said. “At an early age I was very determined in my life. I studied the languages on my own before I took them in school.”
He studied Spanish, French and Portuguese, and taught those languages to college students, then at the high school level until he retired.
Cole said his uncle has shared his travel adventures with residents.
“I would be his wing man,” Cole said. “I would take care of the slides and the cassettes, and he would take people on a journey to France or Canada or Brazil or Africa.”
Cole has been familiar with the center since he visited as a kid in the 60’s as part of his family's traveling gospel choir.
And Davis’ older brother lived at the center until he passed away. A nurse that previously cared for his older brother now looks after him.
“And she’s one of his favorite nurses,” Cole said.
Cole visits his uncle every week.
On a most recent visit, Davis surprised his nephew with a gift of a hand-carved cane he’d purchased during a teaching assignment in Lomé, Togo in West Africa.
“I know that we're not here forever in this life,” Davis said.
Davis said with the help of his nephew, he's made his final arrangements in the event of his passing, such as selecting the funeral home.
“I have had a very exciting life,” Davis said. “I did all that I wanted to do in life, and I'm satisfied.”
Davis has no property or trust to pass onto his nephew, just his stories and personal treasures.
His care at the home is partly paid for with his Social Security benefits and his pension earned from teaching. Public assistance covers the rest.
Cole says he’s grateful that the center doesn’t have a cap on the number of residents it will accept that rely on Medicaid.
"It’s an option for lower income people,” Cole said.
“And if there wasn't such a thing, then many people's loved ones would be far away.”
Meanwhile, on the Stephenson County Board, a debate continues on the future of the nursing home. The resident population is down, and management and financial issues continue to pop up.
Some on the board are considering whether it makes sense financially for the county to serve residents like Davis who rely on Medicaid for their care.
But Cole said public assistance is about compassion “whether it's food stamps or allowing veterans and seniors that don't have enough money to pay the high prices of nursing home care.”
Cause for celebration, but tensions fester
The facility recently gained a star under the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. So, at three out of five stars, it’s the highest rated nursing home in the county.
And while that may be a reason to celebrate, behind the scenes, the situation is tense.
Friction was laid bare in interactions between Tim Whalen, the nursing center committee vice chairman, and Mike Filippo, of Transitional Care Management, during the committee’s monthly meetings.
In one exchange, Whalen said to Filippo, “If you're not happy with that relationship, then it's up to you to do something about it. It's not going to change.”
TCM was contracted by the previous committee leadership to help bring the center’s' finances in order.
“They did some good things to clean up some of the billing processes and things like that,” Whalen said, “Identified something in the cost report that was helpful in terms of the rate that we were able to charge, especially Medicaid.”
TCM is also tasked with recruiting a permanent nursing home administrator. In December the committee hired a temporary administrator through a third-party agency since it hasn’t agreed to any of the recommendations made by TCM.
County Board member and nursing home advocate Jim Hart says this is about politics.
“They will not interview and hire a new permanent administrator that the management company has brought forward, a couple of them, because they don't want the management company to be there," Hart said.
He added that the temporary nursing administrator also undermines the management company “because they're under the auspices of the anti-nursing home portion.”
Whalen, though, said the reasons they haven’t been able to hire a full-time county administrator includes “the amount of money we're willing or able to pay an administrator.” And “Two - I think just our location.” He said there’s not much going on in Freeport to attract an employee to move to the area.
And while the position remains open, FoxHire, LLC, the third-party contractor, bills the county $105.00 an hour for the interim administrator. The county also pays for the interim administrator’s hotel stays and gas mileage, since she commutes from Indiana. She also may be reimbursed up to $35 each day for food, according to the agreement.
In contrast, the budget for the salary for a permanent administrator amounts to an estimated $67.00 an hour, according to TCM.
Hart said the last two permanent administrators accused the county of mistreatment. One former administrator filed an employment discrimination complaint against the county with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming “intimidation, harassment, and sexual harassment,” according to documents provided by the county.
When asked if he favors selling the home, Whalen told WNIJ his focus is on shoring it up, but he may consider a sale at another time.
“If we get to a point where it makes sense,” Whalen said, “because of economics, and because of the market or because, whatever other reasoning -- if it makes sense to sell it to another to a private company and have them operate it, I would probably be for that.”
Hart opposes a sale of the home since the management of once publicly funded nursing homes by the private sector doesn’t guarantee stability to those facilities.
“The venture capitalists and these private companies have come in and they've tried to swallow up the county nursing homes,” Hart said. “They buy them for cheap and then they ended up closing most of them, like in Champaign.”
In Champaign County, the buyer of the publicly funded home recently announced it will close the home in five years, even though it had promised to keep it open for at least a decade.
In DeKalb County, a failed bid to sell the county-run home is now playing out in the courts.
A sale of the Stephenson County Nursing Center would require a two-thirds vote from the full board. Stephenson County Democrats are placing the fate of the nursing home at the center of the county elections in November, as a change in the makeup of the board may determine the future of the home.
