County commissioners weigh Woodland Place options

By Matt Snyder
Herald Staff Writer

MERCER COUNTY March 26, 2008 10:05 pm

— Mercer County commissioners haven’t settled on a plan of action to deal with Woodland Place, the debt-plagued former county nursing home.
Commissioners, who last week rejected a 2008 business plan offered by the private board that runs the non-profit home, said again Wednesday they intend to keep the Coolspring Township nursing home open and to maintain quality care.
They also hinted at taking action.
Commissioner Brian Beader apologized for not having a public statement on the board’s future actions yet. “The board is still considering all our options,” he said.
Woodland Place is in the public eye because commissioners in 2002 backed an $8.8 million bond to fix up the deteriorating nursing home.
That made the county responsible for the nursing home’s bond payments if Woodland Place couldn’t make them.
Since 2004, the county has shelled out about $2.3 million to cover the bond payments. That money comes from a $3 million escrow fund set up when the county sold the home in 1998 to Woodland Place.
Soon, covering those payments could mean dipping into the general fund, which runs the county’s services and comes from taxpayer wallets.
During a closed-door meeting Thursday with the Woodland Place board, Beader said commissioners made suggestions on how to improve the home’s business plan.
Commissioners rejected the plan because they said it lacked financial information. Woodland Chairman Timothy Jablon has defended the proposal, saying it showed the home had money to work with and he needed more time to get the details.
His plan predicted the nursing home could scrimp and save its way to making the next bond payment in the fall.
While commissioners won’t say whether or not Woodland Place will get that time, they made suggestions Thursday on other savings the home could generate.
Commissioners pushed energy-efficient lightbulbs, heating improvements to save on utility costs and cutting from the home’s administrative costs, Beader said.
Commissioner Kenneth Ammann came down hard on what the home pays administrators. He said he wants to see those costs cut.
A private assessment by health care management company Complete HealthCare, Dresher, Pa., reported administrative costs as higher than average. The report tallied the total of the home’s bond debt and what it owes vendors at $10 million.
Beader said the nursing home’s debt to vendors has dropped and thanks to payment plans the home has some money to work with, though not yet what they need to cover the bond payments backed by the county.
Commissioners have a number of option if they don’t like the way the Woodland board runs the home. They could foreclose and run it themselves; lease the property to another company; or hire an outside management company to operate the nursing home.