Submitted by Kim Dupre
ST. CROIX COUNTY, WI – At the August 27, 2024, the Committee of the Whole meeting, the St. Croix County Board unanimously voted to not pursue the sale of the county nursing home and health care campus in New Richmond, Wisconsin.
Selling the nursing home and health care campus was one of three options presented in the County’s 10-year nursing home and health care campus review.
The pre-meeting rally had dozens of folks in attendance with signage and personal stories of the great asset this home is. The County Board meeting room was packed. People stood shoulder to shoulder along the walls of the boardroom and more than one overflow room was needed to accommodate the crowd.
Every single person who provided public testimony that night spoke in favor of keeping the nursing home and health care campus operating as a high quality, local, and affordable county-owned service for our community. That was on top of the 2,046 petition signatures that were gathered on our petition to oppose selling the nursing home and health care campus to a private entity.
We will continue to monitor and support the County Nursing Home through the rest of the 2025 budget process that will culminate November 5, 2024. While this was a big step toward saving our nursing home and health care campus, bad ideas have a way of sticking around and this may not be the last we’ve heard of this privatization option.
The Administration Committee of the St. Croix County Board will make a recommendation about the future of the nursing home and health care campus to the County Board at its next meeting on September 17 at 5:00 p.m. The County Board will again consider the future of the nursing home and health care campus at its next Committee of the Whole meeting on October 1 at 3:30 p.m., and then once more again on the same day at the County Board’s regular meeting on October 1 at 5:00 p.m.
To learn more find us on Facebook at Keep St. Croix County’s Nursing Home.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE “10 YEAR REVIEW – HEALTH CARE CAMPUS”
Overall, very good news!
The Saint Croix County Health Care Campus is providing 5-star rated, affordable, and local services for our elderly, disabled or injured relatives and neighbors, including rehabilitation, assisted-living, and skilled-nursing care.
Our Health Care Campus has a strong positive cash flow history. Payments received for services provided, which are made via private pay, Medicare, and Medicaid, have covered its operating costs since year-two.
Demand for the services our Health Care Campus provides in our community are growing—all but three of its 58 assisted-living beds are full now in Orchard View Terrace.
Our Health Care Campus was just awarded a $750,000 grant of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to open and operate a much needed “dementia crisis stabilization” unit within the Kitty Rhoades Memorial Memory Care Center—it will be only the second in the entire state of Wisconsin—and providing this new service will further enhance its profitable operations.
The projected future positive cash flows for Health Care Campus operations suggest it may be able to contribute toward debt service payments for the facility construction loan, too.
