Adult Care Center considered

Could a private company run it better?

By FRITZ MAYER

LIBERTY, NY — The question of whether Sullivan County should divest itself of the Adult Care Center in Liberty is a perennial one that tends to arise in tough economic times. The possibility was brought up in the county manager’s budget address in December, and was discussed at a meeting at the government center on February 11.

The talk stirred a couple of people to action, specifically Priscilla Bassett, co-chair of the Senior Legislative Action Committee, and Lou Setren, business agent for Teamsters Local 445, which represents about 100 workers at the center.

On March 3, at a meeting of the Family Council, which is an advocacy organization at the center, Bassett explained that county officials had warned that if federal funding was cut in the future then the county should seriously consider selling the center. According to Bassett and Setren, however, that funding is not in jeopardy.

The funding, called inter-governmental transfer (IGT), comes from the federal government through the state to the county, and has been guaranteed through 2012. In the past, however, the payments have not always been made on time. The payment for 2009 has not yet been made but is due within 60 days. There is concern that, in the future, the payments may fall victim to budgetary concerns.

At present, however, Setren and Bassett both said that the center breaks even or operates at a small loss. Even if it didn’t, however, there is some sentiment that the county should continue to operate it regardless. That’s because, according to the New York State Association of Counties, “county nursing homes are considered valuable assets because of their historic mission to serve any person in need of residential nursing care, regardless of the ability of the resident to cover the cost of the services required.”

More than 80 percent of the residents at the center are Medicaid recipients. Medicaid does not pay as much as Medicare, which is the other method typically used for payment, and private and not-for-profit nursing homes seek Medicare over Medicaid patients. The question is, if the center were sold, would all of those Medicaid patients continue to be served? And would they be served in the county, or would those residents be forced to find facilities outside of the county?

The answers to those questions would depend on the policies adopted by the entity that would ultimately buy the facility. Because of statements made by county manager David Fanslau and county chairman Jonathan Rouis, it doesn’t seem that any serious discussions are underway about a possible sale, but Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC) and Achieve Rehab and Nursing Facility in Liberty have reportedly expressed interest. JP McGuirk, a spokesman for CRMC, said, “At this time, the county has not yet decided what it would like to do and, if they decided to sell, we would have to conduct a full analysis on our end to see if it is feasible. So it is all very pre-mature at this point.”

Setren, however, expressed the view that the county might wish to divest itself of the facility because it would mean a big reduction in the county workforce.

Lawmaker Leni Binder, who said she was not necessarily in favor of selling the facility, said it was something that should be studied. She said that costs for the county to operate it are higher than they would be for private companies. For instance, the pension costs for county employees are very high, and will have a significant impact on the budget for many years into the future, Binder said, and with a private operator they could be lower.