After the tumultuous events of the past several weeks, I and many others feel compelled to speak out against the damage being inflicted on the people of Sullivan County by some county officials who decry the costs of the Care Center at Sunset Lake and are pushing to close it down.  

After decades of neglectful handling and mismanagement, the center has amassed a sizeable debt that those looking to close it have seized upon, emphasizing the unsustainable amounts of money it is costing taxpayers to keep it open. 

These officials claim the only way to stop the hemorrhaging is to evict the residents, close the place up and sell it to the highest bidder. This may appear to make sense, except that dumping the care center is not in the best interest of county residents, nor is it the only way to resolve the financial problems.   

When faced with similar problems in the floundering Valley View Care Center, instead of shutting it down, Orange County installed a new, knowledgeable and competent team to manage it.  This change not only saved a very important local health and care facility for the elderly and those in need of rehabilitation, but it also changed Valley View from a staggering financial drain to a major contributor to Orange County’s bottom line, pumping millions of dollars into the economy. 

Contrast Orange County’s plan, which retains the Valley View Healthcare Center while restoring economic growth and vigor, to the Sullivan County attitude of hands-off, “Don’t bother me,” that has characterized the mismanagement and ideology of the not-so-benign neglect under which Sullivan’s care center has languished over decades.  

And here is another anomaly.  If there is such concern about the staggering costs of keeping the Adult Care Center open, why has the for-profit LLC currently mismanaging the center been allowed to run up a staggering $8 million-plus debt, a debt they are contractually required to pay to Sullivan County, yet to my knowledge no attempt whatever has been made to recover any of this money.  

Some day in the near future, every one of us will need a premier care facility that, with just a little effort, our care center could be.  Don’t let profiteering, greedy people steal this quality-of-life, health care asset from the people who  paid for it, supported it and rightly expect this place to be there for themselves and their loved ones.  This issue touches everyone.  

Now is the time for Sullivan County residents to act.  Contact your legislators and tell them they must act to save the Care Center at Sunset Lake! 

Star D. Hesse is a senior living in Narrowsburg, NY. She is a fifty-year Sullivan County resident.