Dateline: August 3, 2006

Hospital district to hire consultant for MCNH

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The Donley County Hospital District will contract with an outside consultant to do complete analysis of the Medical Center Nursing Home following last week’s town hall meeting about the future of the facility.

More than 100 people attended the meeting, which was called by the hospital board to get input from taxpayers. Hospital board president Alan Fletcher led the discussion about the home, which is financially sound currently but faces an uncertain future with regards to state funding and ever increasing expenses.

Fletcher fielded several questions about the finances of the nursing home, but the most striking questions came from local resident Lisha Ralston, who is employed by The Arbors, a nursing facility in Canyon operated by Baptist Community Services.

Ralston asked about alternative ways to generate revenue at the nursing home and wondered why more local people weren’t utilizing the home for rehabilitation services, and then she asked the question that resonated with district officials.

“Have you done a complete operational evaluation?” Ralston asked MCNH officials.

This week Administrator Vicky Robertson said she has contacted Ralston’s boss, Arbors Administrator Robert Smith, and he has agreed to perform an operational analysis of the nursing home.

“That’s where we’re going to start,” Robertson said. “He will come do a walk through of the facility, ask for staffing and budget information, and look at the overall operation.”

The cost to the district will be less than $1,000, Robertson said; and the analysis should take about 15 hours to complete. A report with recommendations will then be presented to the hospital board.

At press time, a date for the evaluation had not been set.

Last Tuesday night’s meeting at the Lions Hall was well attended, and most people there agreed that the priority must be to keep the home open. The biggest challenge to that is the fact that Texas ranks near the bottom of the 50 states in terms of funding for Medicaid beds in nursing homes.

Other problems include the mix of patients in the home – many of whom only need assisted living type services and therefore receive the lowest Medicaid reimbursement, increased competition in the job market as wages continue to increase for a small pool of qualified nurses and aides, and ongoing maintenance issues with a facility that is more than 30 years old.

Fletcher said no matter what course is chosen for the nursing home, he and the hospital board want Donley County taxpayers to be fully informed.

“We want the truth to be out in front of what we’re trying to accomplish in order to stop any rumors before they start,” Fletcher said.