Village board discusses possible options to keep WCTC afloat

The Village of Wauneta Board of Trustees met Feb. 7, 2018 for a special nursing home meeting at Wauneta Care and Therapy Center.
    Administrator Lisa Kisinger and Western Regional Branch Manager at Rural Health Development Walter Dye was present for the meeting.
    “Do I think this nursing home is in a dire situation of closing? No, we are doing a lot better than most facilities,” said Dye.
    With America’s current economic situation, many businesses and citizens are in tough financial standing. Throw in low census numbers and WCTC, amongst several other nursing homes, is struggling.
    The average expense per day, which includes anything from utilities to toothpicks, is currently $218.69. Dye noted that many other area facilities are also in the $215 to $220 ballpark.
    Currently, private pay residents pay around $224.70 a day and Medicaid residents pay around $208.50 a day. After crunching all the numbers Dye noted that a home can lose about $10 a day which will slowly add up.
    Possibly the more obvious solution to nursing home’s problems would be to decline Medicaid resident acceptance, a desperate option that Dye strongly advised against.
    “Someone’s going to try not taking Medicaid patients anymore. But what are you going to do with widow Jones who has exhausted her savings for four years? You have to ask yourself, what is it worth for us as a community to provide a service,” said Dye.
    Dye compared the nursing home to several other community funded amenities such as the public pool, the baseball field or the parks.
    “Not everyone uses them, but it is still a service that the community provides,” said Dye.
    After open discussion the board was in agreement that the nursing home is an important facet the community of Wauneta needs. WCTC currently creates around 60 jobs for the community.
    Board member Page Johnston noted that the community took its stance on the importance of the nursing home five years ago when it rallied together to raise $240,525 in a very short time.
    “The community is behind it [WCTC]. When they did it, the local economy was very different. Incomes have gone down considerably and costs have gone down. The same factors that are affecting the nursing home is affecting the people,” said Johnston.
    Board member Rick Einspahr asked if there were any services WCTC could offer that could potentially bring in more revenue to which Dye responded by saying, “I wish I knew the answer to that because I would be rich beyond my means.”
    Dye also noted that the majority of the successful homes are now privately owned facilities.
    Some of the different options the board discussed, at length, included possibly subsidizing the home, implementing a sales tax, declining Medicaid residents or raising the tax levy.
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