County puts Otsego Manor up for sale

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September 6, 2012

County puts Otsego Manor up for sale

By JOE MAHONEY Staff Writer The Daily Star Thu Sep 06, 2012, 03:30 AM EDT

COOPERSTOWN -- The Otsego County Board of Representatives decided Wednesday to sell the debt-plagued Otsego Manor nursing home to the highest bidder.

The resolution authorizing the sale of the 174-bed nursing facility just south of Cooperstown was approved by 12 of the 13 representatives at the board's monthly meeting. Only Rep. Keith McCarty, R-Springfield, opposed the measure.

The resolution stated that the successful bidder must meet the county's criteria -- including that it has "a history of excellent resident care, financial viability and ability to meet New York state requirements."

The decision came three months after county Treasurer Dan Crowell informed the board that the county's subsidy to the Manor is expected to rise dramatically in future years because of rising costs for labor, supplies and materials at the same time Medicare receipts and the Medicaid reimbursement rates have been declining.

"We view this as a matter of saving quality nursing care in Otsego County," declared Rep. Katherine Stuligross, D-Oneonta, in contending the county could no longer afford to operate the nursing home itself.

The board provided no advance public notice that it was prepared to act on the fate of the Manor at the meeting. The topic was not listed on the agenda handed out at the beginning of the public meeting.

Only one local resident attended the meeting to advocate on behalf of keeping the nursing home as county property.

Sandra Bliss of Middlefield said she decided to attend the meeting after The Daily Star, citing anonymous sources, reported last month that the board's Manor Committee had discussed taking steps to privatize it during a closed-door "executive session" meeting.

Bliss, the sister of Middlefield Town Supervisor Dave Bliss, said she fears the quality of care at the Manor will diminish once it is acquired by a private operator. She argued the board should have pursued alternatives to selling it, such as raising additional revenue through higher taxes to plug the home's budget shortfall.

Bliss said she was speaking out as a "concerned citizen" worried about the level of health care and the futures of those now employed at the Manor.

"This board has the authority, if they so decide, to override the two-percent tax cap" that has been imposed on local governments by the state government, she said.

Once the Manor is sold, she said, the new operator could sell it to another buyer, and the county would have no authority to stop that transaction.

County officials estimate the Manor's subsidy from county taxpayers this year at $3.2 million.

That figure is expected to reach $6 million by 2014.

Rep. Linda Rowinski, D-Oneonta, said selling the home to a private operator was a tough decision, but the escalating costs at the Manor make county ownership unsustainable.

She said some board members might have been open to a small increase in taxes to keep the nursing home as county property. However, she added: "I don't think a little bit is going to do it. That would just delay the inevitable."

She noted that recent reports of questionable quality of care at Countryside Care Center in Delhi -- a facility that went from being a public nursing home to a privately operated one seven years ago -- prompted members of the Otsego County board to limit the field of potential bidders to those with a track record of financial stability.

Wednesday's resolution stated that county government "is mindful of the impact of this decision on the residents of Otsego Manor, employees and relatives, and wishes to take into consideration the effect of this decision on all involved and wishes to follow an open and deliberative process for the sale of Otsego Manor."

The two-page resolution was distributed within minutes after board members emerged from a lengthy private executive-session meeting, called to discuss what they said were contract negotiations. The public discussion of the resolution was brief, and the voting took place only a few minutes after the resolution was handed out.

McCarty said that he felt greater effort should have been made to identify ways to close the home's budget gap, especially in light of the impact on patients and employees.

"I think they're kind of jumping the gun a little bit here," he said. "What bothers me is that we're owed money from the state and federal government for this thing, and we're not going after it. These people (state officials) promised us tax relief by putting a 2 percent tax cap on and yet we still have the same mandates."

As for the decision to sell the Manor, "I hate to lose it because we're going to have so little control over it now," McCarty said. He said many of his constituents "don't want us to let it go."

"What happens when you privatize it?" he asked. "Are you going to get the same level of care that you get now?"

McCarty also noted the county will still have to pay off a $20 million bond for the Manor. "I don't think anybody out there is going to give us $20 million for it."

He estimated that, in a county of 62,000 people, if all residents paid a quarter each day to fund the nursing home, it would generate $5.6 million in new revenue.

"This wasn't a good day," McCarty said.

The same resolution authorizing the sale of the Manor also empowered the board's chairwoman, Rep. Kathleen Clark, R-Otego, to "obtain proposals for professional services to assist with the development of criteria for sale of Otsego Manor."

A week ago, The Daily Star reported that Countryside Care Center, operated by Leatherstocking Healthcare LLC, is in jeopardy of losing its Medicare funding if it does not correct a host of deficiencies found by the state Department of Health.

That facility's management said it is working with state officials to address the concerns turned up by recent inspections.