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He said the counties need to come together on these mandates to combat the state.

Exactly!!!  Simply sending a resolution won't cut it.  Vince's use of the word "combat" is a good one.  Sending a piece of paper is not exactly combat.  They need to band together with other counties and scream.  They need to be in the faces of every single state level legislator and say enough is enough.        They need to fight for us as residents of the county.  I have not seen any fight in this legislature thats for sure.

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Another unfunded mandate the county is outraged about is the fact that the state does not fully fund Medicaid. Although, the program is administered at the county level it is mandated by the state.

I'm on shakey ground on this one because I'm not sure if they have the authority, but it seems to me if the county administers the program they should be able to set the standard for recipients of the programs.  Perhaps, learning to speak the english language could be the first simple requirement.  If these people aren't working they should have plenty of time to learn.  They should also require them to get a job within two years of entering any welfare programs.  If they aren't going to get a job within two years they probably won't ever. This puts them on a career track of government handouts for a lifetime.

We can all talk about this until we are blue in our faces.....I work with the elderly and the ONLY WAY $$ will be spent on our aging selves is when
society/mainstream media make being old and wise more important than Paris Hilton's sex tape and Spears parenting skills and our over sexxed teens
the lowest point on the pyramid of life......otherwise, here we all stand in the dark looking for 'anti-aging' miracle drugs and 'healthcare' done by medicine.

We reap what we sow......

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He said if the issue was to come before the board, the Legislature would support keeping the nursing home.

I'm glad he feels this way and I have to believe the entire legislature feels the same.  

The Glendale home needs to be privatized. It is just a duplication of service already in the county. The private nursing homes are mandated to offer 'so many' beds for medicaid. If they do not have enough beds, than perhaps they can receive incentives to 'add on' to their existing facilities.

I can't stress enough that I strongly believe that the Glendale Home needs to come off of the county books and into the hands of a private company. I believe that is called Capitalism. Which should be encouraged.

http://www.dailygazette.com

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Sch’dy County is morally obligated to run nursing home

    I feel the need to respond to your Oct. 3 editorial, “Get serious and cut budget.” As a member of the county Legislature and a physician, I have a unique opportunity to contribute ideas relating to the major health care issues affecting our community. The importance of the Glendale nursing home needs to be more fully discussed.
    Glendale plays a critical role in caring for the elderly and poorly insured residents of this county; the patients at Glendale are unable to live on their own and require an assisted-living environment for their well-being. These are patients who will not be taken into other private facilities due to their fi - nancial situations.
    As a physician who has sent patients to our county nursing home, I can attest to the high quality of care delivered by the dedicated staff. Without Glendale, numerous patients would have prolonged hospital stays, and if discharged home, would depend on non-medically trained family members to deliver their care. Many family members would have to leave their jobs in order to care for loved ones.
    During this time of flux, with the merger of Ellis and St. Clare’s, a stable Glendale is particularly important. With winter rapidly approaching, the advent of influenza season is nearly upon us. Glendale serves a critical role as a facility into which Ellis can discharge sub-acute patients, thereby alleviating potential census crises at our acute-care hospital. As documented on numerous occasions in The Daily Gazette, wait times at Ellis, as well as bed space, have been problematic during the transition. The closure of Glendale would add significantly to the problems at hand.
    I take offense to allegations and innuendos regarding any conflicts of interest on my part. In no way do I receive any benefit from the Glendale nursing home, in either of my professional capacities. My overriding concerns as a legislator and physician are for the good of the community and the patient. Given the Hippocratic Oath that I took upon graduation from medical school, my concern is patient well-being. I do not believe that this represents any conflict of interest.
    Throughout October, the county Legislature will be reviewing and amending the budget submitted by County Manager Kathleen Rooney. The economic crisis facing all of us makes this budget process particularly diffi - cult. Tough decisions will need to be made in terms of financing numerous programs. When deliberating the fate of the Glendale nursing home, we must look past the option of closure and instead concentrate on the benefits that this facility provides members of our community who are least able to speak for themselves.
    As a legislator, physician and community member, I believe we have a moral and ethical obligation to take care of our elderly and infirm, despite the relatively high cost; we cannot turn our backs to them.
    BRIAN M. GORDON
    Niskayuna

The elderly should be taken care of but not by the county whose already in financial trouble with it's ever growing budget and no way to balance it except on the backs of it's residents by constantly raising taxes.

Are we duplicating taxpaid services...somewhat here?  Check out both of these websites...

http://www.nehealth.com

http://www.npaonline.org

No....the criteria or #####'s in the little boxes make the decision for you.....unless you have cash....and alot of it....it's always the 'textbook'/insurance
numbers that tell folks where/who they are in this business......that is why national healthcare or not---those with cash still get to opt out of the system
and do what they want......

that being said,,,,to 'equal' the playing field, they will get tax deductions for contributing to a system they dont even use......so you see,,,,the carrot
in front of the donkey does work......and the beat goes on........no different than us sitting here having a b**ch fest about those on 'assistance'......
there are tax deductions for those not 'in the system'.......

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SCHENECTADY COUNTY
Fate of new nursing home awaited
Key decision on $51M proposal set
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    Schenectady County could learn as early as Thursday whether it will be able to build a $51 million, 200-bed nursing home to replace the aging Glendale Home in Glenville.
    The state Hospital Review and Planning Council is scheduled to review the county’s certificate of need — essentially a request to build — at a Thursday meeting, said state Department of Health spokesman Jeff Hammond.
    If the council approves the request, it will forward the recommendation to the Public Health Council, which will move it to the commissioner of health for final approval.
    The county home would be part of nearly $150 million in planned construction to modernize and expand nursing homes in Schenectady County.
    Baptist Health Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Scotia plans to spend $50 million to upgrade the facility and create a 50-bed assisted living facility, a new service.
    Also, Capital Living and Rehabilita- tion Centres, for-profit owner of The Avenue on Altamont Avenue and Dutch Manor on Hamburg Street, will construct a $50 million, 240-bed skilled nursing facility near the two facilities.
    Both received state grants as seed money for the projects. The state is awarding millions to facilities as part of a plan to restructure long-term care in New York.
    The state review Thursday will include public comment and a needs assessment related to Schenectady County’s proposed facility. The goal is to open the new facility in 2010 on the Hetcheltown Road campus containing the current county skilled nursing facility. The county has not spelled out what it will do with the current facility, considered obsolete.
SORELY NEEDED
    A new Schenectady County nursing home would be great news for local health care providers, county nursing home staff, county administrators, residents and their families and people seeking placement in nursing homes. They view the Glendale Home as essential to the community.
    For taxpayers, a new nursing home would mean a continuous county outlay of about $5 million or more per year. The county must subsidize the nursing home because it does not receive adequate state and federal reimbursements to cover costs completely.
    The total cost to operate Glendale next year will be approximately $27.4 million, more than 10 percent of the county’s total 2009 budget of $235 million. The county receives $20 million in patient billings, plus $3 million in a special federal reimbursement. The rest comes from the general fund. In 2008, the county subsidy was $7.4 million.
    The county is not obligated to operate a nursing home. It is a non-mandated program, which if eliminated would reduce the current $53 million tax levy by more than half.
    The county, however, chooses to operate Glendale as a community service, said county Legislator Brian Gordon, D-Niskayuna, an orthopedic surgeon at Ellis Hospital. “It is a financial burden, but we have a moral and ethical responsibility to take care of residents who can’t take care of themselves,” he said.
    Gordon said some Glendale residents are not eligible for care elsewhere. “If we didn’t have a county nursing home, it would be a costly endeavor, no matter how you look at it,” he said.
    Glendale is considered a safetynet provider, said Carl Young, president of the New York State Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. “They get residents other facilities won’t take or can’t take care of,” he said.
    A disproportionate share of these patients have behavioral and other medical problems, Young said. “These are people whose care is expensive and labor intensive, but the payment system does not acknowledge the cost of caring for these people,” he said.
LAST RESORT
    Amy Hochmuth, of Ellis Hospital, coordinates the placement of 480 patients annually into nursing homes. She said some patients are harder than others to place and Glendale is more willing to accommodate patients with behavioral and mental conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, and patients who are clinically complex.
    “The patients Glendale takes are a huge support to the community because no other local facility can accommodate them and so we don’t have to place patients outside of the local community,” she said.
    Glendale will also accept patients who have pending applications for health insurance — the majority of nursing homes will only accept patients after they have insurance, Hochmuth said.
    Still, there are some patients Glendale will not accept — patients on ventilators. It is not equipped to offer that service, Hochmuth said.
    The county has tried different strategies to reduce costs at Glendale. “We are saving additional hundred of thousands [of dollars] with employee health insurance and we are doing a better job of intake,” said county Attorney Chris Gardner.
    Minority Leader Robert Farley, R-Glenville, wants the county to hand over Glendale operations to a nonprofit corporation.
    The county is seeking to build a new facility in response a state mandate to reduce Glendale’s 360 beds to 200 by 2010.
    The Berger Commission, more formally known as the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, originally suggested the county keep Glendale open but downsize to 168 beds. The Berger Commission findings became law in January 2007.
    County officials disagreed with the recommendation and got the state to agree to 200 beds. It submitted a certificate of need with the state last May for permission to build the new facility.
MONEY AND BEDS
    The county had hoped the new nursing home would reduce its annual subsidy by several million dollars through a method called rebasing. Many county-operated nursing homes were built 30 to 40 years ago and are locked into a reimbursement rate that uses 1983 as a base year. The rate does not adequately reflect today’s operating costs, officials said. By building new, the county would set its new base at the year 2006.
    The county had also hoped to tap into a state program called the Public Facilities Grant to offset further costs of the new facility. But the state Legislature eliminated this fund for 2009, meaning that the new nursing home will cost as much to operate if not more than the existing Glendale Home, said county Legislator Gary Hughes, D-Schenectady.
    “We are not going to get to the financial point we had anticipated — it will be more than $5 million. There will be costs associated with running a nursing home. And I think it is a cost people are willing to bear,” Hughes said.
    The county has already begun to reduce the number of beds at Glendale in anticipation of a new facility. Glendale went to 220 beds Dec. 31 and will go to 210 beds by Dec. 31 and to 200 beds by Dec. 31, 2010. To achieve the reduction, the county has limited admissions and reduced staff.
    Because Glendale is reducing beds, Ellis is already seeing diffi culties in placing patients, Huchmuth said. “That has a direct impact on us. Every time we lose a nursing home bed, it makes it more challenging for us to place patients,” she said.
    She said she hears concern that they may not be enough nursing home beds in the community. “That question comes a lot,” she said.
    Young said the future of countyrun nursing homes is grim. “They are dealing with a number of extra challenges than the rest of the provider community. Nearly all are losing money,” he said. Forty counties in the state operate nursing homes.
    Another challenge is that countyoperated nursing homes frequently are unionized, which makes their labor costs higher, and they are all part of state retirement systems, Young said.
    Glendale’s medical, benefit and retirement costs for some 200 employees are $7.4 million, according to the 2009 budget. For the rest of the county work force of approximately 900, this cost is $20.2 million. Gardner said the costs are high because there are an equal number of retirements as workers at Glendale.
    Mindy Berman, a spokeswoman for Local 1199 SEIU, which represents 195 workers at Glendale, said the “union has had a commitment from many people in county government to do everything possible to keep the nursing home open and in fact build a new nursing home. It is a community-based nursing home.”
ADJUSTING FOR LONG RUN
ue to operate nursing homes. “In most cases, the community needs that provider, and that means in many cases, taxpayers are called upon to pay for the services. But why would we exclude our seniors as a category to whom we provide taxpayers’ support? That is the mission of government — to provide services no one else will provide.”
    According to Berger, there are 1,317 nursing home beds operated by county-run facilities in the Capital Region. It said these facilities are large, have low occupancy rates and have antiquated buildings that are inefficient.
    For these facilities to survive, Berger said they need to.......................................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00102

The County needs to get out of the nursing home business and turn it over to a "private for profit" company that can turn a profit and pay some taxes to help the residents with their high tax rates.  

If private industry ISN'T interested, than what does that tell us? And have they ever even put it up for sale? My guess is that there isn't a business out there that will buy it and take it over with the staff being union. If it was such a lucrative business venture, you would think that Baptist, Kingsway or Hallmark would be bitting at the bit to buy it! I believe the union is the BIGGEST stumbling block. The union is what is killing the auto industry and NYS...HELLO! The county dug us a money pit!

And further more, why do they need to build a new facility? If the beast must exist, why not look into the old Draper School? Why not Bellevue Maternity? Why not St. Clares?

Yanno Bumble ... you might have an idea there.  Why NOT St. Clare's?  It's obviously not going to be ressurected as a hospital anytime soon, it's just sitting there wasting away.

The infastructure is there for all the services they provide at Glendale now - and they'd save expenses of transporting to a hospital (like they often do) ...

I wonder what the feasibility of that is.

If you don't build there is no grease for the contractors. Yes the staff wants to build at any price. Time was wasted begging the broke State when a sale or nonprofit affiliation could have been finalized. With Baptist and Dutch Manor building new facilities there is absolutely no reason to build a in Glendale. MT is right use St Claires. This was initially supported by Dr. Gordon. Until?

     This horrible County is incapable of making a cut nor decision that doesn't rip off the oppressed Taxpayers. In Montgomery County, they sold their County home, which is now run by a non-profit. They also had a County wide tax decrease of 3% with most towns cutting over 10%. Cuts must now be made. Hopefully the State will realize that 3 new Homes in a small County makes no sense.

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SCHENECTADY COUNTY
County gets OK to build
Glendale Home to be replaced
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

Schenectady County received approval from the state Thursday to build a $51 million, 200-bed nursing home to replace the aging Glendale Home in Glenville. Finding the money is the next objective. But it must begin construction by Nov. 1 to keep the approval, according to the state Hospital Review and Planning Council, which met in New York City. The council also said the county must meet several other conditions, including the provision of final construction documents, a bond note, a debt amortization schedule and a plan to reduce the Glendale skilled nursing facility to 200 beds from its current census of 220. As part of its approval, the state said the county must complete construction of the new facility by Nov. 1, 2011.
    County Legislator Dr. Brian Gordon said county officials will meet with the state to discuss how to pay for the construction. “My most important issue is moving this along in a timely fashion. Susan and I will meet with the rest of Legislature and come up with plans on how we will expedite it,” Gordon said, referring to Susan Savage, chairwoman of the county Legislature.
    “We need to modernize the facility and deliver care in an even more efficient manner and to continue the excellent care we provide to residents of Glendale,” Gordon said.
    Savage said the state’s decision “means that people who have lived and worked in our community their whole lives will continue to have options when they need nursing home care.”
    Gordon said the county will build the new facility on Glendale’s Hetcheltown Road campus. “It will be done in stages. Our goal is to build a new facility with as little disruption as possible,” he said.
    The county will use portions of the existing Glendale facility for senior housing and medical services, Gordon said.
    “This gives us options now and allows us to progress. We needed to have a facility with 200 beds in order to create a state-of-art environment,” Gordon said.
LONGSTANDING NEED
    The county wants to build a new nursing home because Glendale is obsolete. It consists of a series of buildings, some constructed decades ago, some without their own heating and cooling plants. The Berger Commission, more formally known as the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, originally suggested the county keep Glendale open and downsize it to 168 beds. The commission findings became law in January 2007. County offi - cials fought the recommendation and got the state to agree to 200 beds. At one time, Glendale had 528 beds.
    The county submitted a certifi - cate of need to the state last May for permission to build the new facility.
    The county said a new facility will allow it to reduce its annual subsidy by several million dollars through a method called rebasing. Many county-operated nursing homes were built 30 to 40 years ago and are locked into a reimbursement rate that uses 1983 as a base year. The rate does not adequately reflect today’s operating costs, officials said.
    By building new, the county would.....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00100

I'd like to go on the record by saying that I oppose this move as the taxpayers can't afford to pay for the cost and expense of running a nursing home and it should be a private company running the nursing home. This county hasn't created a venture that has ever succeeded and this one will be no different IMHO. How many failures can the taxpayer stand b4 they smarten up and throw these incompetent officials out of office?