This article is a great series of quotes put together by News-Gazette reporter Paul Wood, featuring the thoughts of Champaign County Board members on the County Nursing Home, in their own words.
An example:
"I favor keeping a publicly funded public Champaign County nursing home that breaks even financially or even makes a profit. There will be times when state Medicaid/Medicare rules change payment unexpectedly and an infusion of money will be needed. We have unforeseen overtime in the sheriff's department, but nobody says privatize that; we have massive attorney bills for outside counsel in murder trials, etc. I favored a much higher operational levy when the issue was placed before the voters, as I knew the one adopted would be inadequate. I think we need to ask the voters in November to vote yes or no on a realistic operational levy. If they say no, then it is time to consider selling the 'business.'" – Tom Betz, D-District 8
There will be a special meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the nursing home.
Betz should stick to solving student-landlord conflicts and supporting gay rights. He is clearly not a businessman. He has no business being on the county board.
If you don't think Mr. Betz should be on the Board, rather than make ineffectual posts here, you should help the campaign against him when/if he seeks re-election
Michael Fuerst
Yes the voters did pass the referendum in a large manner. But, in my opinion they were fed the "sky is falling", story about the former home,it was not in that bad of shape,and could have been brought up to date with a fraction of the amount spent to build the new one. Still no one on the County Board is stepping up and accepting any responsiblity for what went wrong out there. Also this misinformation about taking care of the counties poor, BS, they have been and continue to cherry pick their admissions, they only want the "healthier" one's that would need some help from Medicaid, that is why the state took money away from them,,,,not enough really ill people getting help,they have always cherry picked who they want out there. I had that problem dealing with them when I was the group care caseworker for Public Aid. They have more fines on the way for poor procedures and care, so stay tuned,,,,,the money flow out is going to just continue. Pius is right about one thing, finding someone to step in and buy it now would be a difficult task.
The County sought the advice of architects and others regarding the cost of upgrading the old nursing home versus the cost of new construction. The testimony showed that, at best, the cost of bringing the old home up to code would equal or exceed the cost of new construction. At the end, remodeling would yield a mishmash of conjoined buildings (three at least), organized in an inefficient manner. The decision to build a new home was supported by a majority of the board and was reached after thorough discussion and debate. The public record is on file, should you wish to review the matter. Ralph Langenheim
If all that is true, then you should have just left things as they were. Not doing that,,,then you totally ignored the new nursing home during the period of time most of the problems could have been nipped in the bud (Barney Fife), now you have a 24 million dollar headache, legal bills growing, and the state ready to fine it for poor care and reporting methods. You all would have been great in Paris say around 1790-1793, you would have blamed the price of bread exceeding a sou on the Germans. It is pretty obvious that any and all advice you received before, during and after was bad. Now instead of having the guts to make the call,,,,you want to put it on the ballot, make the tax paypayers the heavy. What is the tab up too now on the loans a million three? What are you going to do when the state rips you a new one again soon? How many 5, 10 thousand fines ae you prepared to pay?
It was nice to see all those who still "believe". If we could just run it better, all would be fine. How long should county taxpayers have to foot the bill why the county tries to figure out how to run the nursing home better? Unlike the sheriffs office, there are plenty of current private options for those needing this service.
"I think we need to ask the voters in November to vote yes or no on a realistic operational levy. If they say no, then it is time to consider selling the 'business.'" - Tom Betz
From the April 9th News-Gazette:
"Tom Betz, a Democratic member of the Champaign County Board, said another question that had been talked about, but wasn't raised formally Tuesday, was another concern. That was a question asking whether the cities should study the feasibility of municipal ownership of the city water company.
Betz said if that question appeared on the ballot, he feared that Illinois American Water Co., the local water company, would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in an effort to defeat the proposal.
"The city then loses all leverage," he said."
That's strange. Wouldn't the private nursing home interests pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into the referendum campaign? If the people of Urbana support IRV, water municipalization, or government transparency, shouldn't we consider implementing those policies as well? Does Betz care about public input, or doesn't he? Or only when it benefits his own agenda?
And yes, there are private options and there should continue to be private options. However, there needs to be a place for our poor elders as well. Let's increase the efficiency of the operation and reduce the strain on taxpayers as much as possible, but we don't need to turn a profit on the care of our nursing home residents.
However, there needs to be a place for our poor elders as well. Let's increase the efficiency of the operation and reduce the strain on taxpayers as much as possible, but we don't need to turn a profit on the care of our nursing home residents.
If that is the argument, then all the seats should be reserved for the poor. It is my understanding that this is not currently the case.
I'm not sure why Betz' comments are considered so objectionable. He's presenting the only two reasonable options: (1) concede that the Nursing Home is a necessary public amenity worthy of County subsidy, stop expecting it to make money (since the state pays only a fraction of the cost of a Medicare or Medicaid bed) and raise taxes to pay for it, or (2) concede that the County shouldn't be in the health care business and sell it off. What am I missing?
"If you don't think Mr. Betz should be on the Board, rather than make ineffectual posts here, you should help the campaign against him when/if he seeks re-election"
Yep - but until then, all I can do is bitch.