After finishing September in the black, Wauneta Care and Therapy Center Administrator Lisa Kisinger was back to giving her board bad news last week.
    Kisinger told the center’s governing board Dec. 5 that a current loss of $68.35 per day on every Medicaid patient has once again put the facility behind the financial eight-ball.
    She described the current financial situation as “terrible.”
    The home finished September $16,431 in the black, but finished Oct. with a $14,374 deficit, much of it the results of payments for an audit and cost report.
    Kisinger said she hopes a Dec. 19 Lincoln conference on the state’s Medicaid problems could be the first step in changing the situation, which is a problem for nursing homes statewide.
    “We can say to [state officials] we can’t take this hit,” she said.
    Board chairman Tony Cribelli said if enough people show up at that conference, “hopefully, we can make a big, loud, squeaky wheel.”
    One piece of good news was that the center was $2,964 under budget for nursing wages for the month, and there appears to be sufficient nursing staff on board.

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