FULTON COUNTY Sale of county nursing home OK’d Private takeover set for Feb. 29 BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
The state Department of Health has approved the sale of the county-owned nursing home to a private company, setting the stage for the transition to occur tentatively Feb. 29. Fulton County sent out 60-day notices on the transition Dec. 29 to the 200-member staff at the Fulton County Residential Health Care Facility and to nursing home residents and their families, after a state Health Department committee endorsed the sale. Final Health Department approval came earlier this month. The Centers for Specialty Care of the Bronx is purchasing the facility on County Highway 122 for $3.5 million. The company will use a combination of equity and loans to purchase the nursing home and property, according to the state Health Department. The company will do business as Fulton Operating Associates and operate the 176-bed home under the name of the Fulton Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare, according to the state Health Department. The nursing home had a 97 percent occupancy rate in 2009 and a budget of $11.4 million. The board decided to privatize the nursing home in 2010 to avoid future financial liabilities at the expense of taxpayers. The county had been using federal subsidies to support the home’s operations, but those subsidies ran out in 2011. Future operations would have required a county subsidy, something county leaders wanted to avoid. Projections show the facility starting to turn a profit three years after the transition. The private corporation operates nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and health care centers in New York City and upstate, including in Rome and Buffalo. The Fulton County Board of Supervisors approved the sale in May. Barb Handy, president of CSEA Local 818, which represents employees at the nursing home, said she expects the transition to be smooth. “The company is saying it is their intention to keep the employees working and that they intend to keep our wages the same. They have been a pleasure to work with,” she said. Handy said the staff will remain unionized and will switch to a private-sector branch of the CSEA after Feb. 29. ....................>>>>.......................>>>>.....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01302&AppName=1
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