MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards will begin the process of finalizing a contract with a Chicago-based company for the sale of the Chautauqua County Home. During a special meeting of the Chautauqua County Legislature last night in Mayville, lawmakers voted 16 to 8 in favor of allowing Edwards to enter into negotiations with Altitude Health Services, Inc. to draw up a contract for the purchase of the home at a cost of $16.5 million. Although lawmakers approved a resolution for Edwards to begin negotiations, the contract and eventual sale of the home would still need final approval of the legislature.
Prior to the legislature’s vote, lawmakers spent over two hours hearing from residents both for and against the sale of the home. More than 30 different individuals offered their comments on the sale of the home, including some of residents and employees – who want the county to keep the home; and residents and business owners – who want the county to sell the home. Among those who spoke out were Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce President Todd Tranum, who said that the county no longer has the resources to keep the home economically viable.
“The bottom line is, the county home is losing money. The bottom line is, as currently structured and operated, it can not stand alone without taxpayer subsidy, and that’s reality and unfortunately there’s no signs that that’s going to get better,” said Tranum. “If we think medicaid and medicare reimbursements are going to increase magically, that’s not going to happen with the constraints the state and federal government are under. If we think intergovernment transfer dollars are going to increase, we’re mistaken. If anything, those types of dollars flowing into the [county home] are going to decline.”
One of those who had the opposite view of the home was Brocton resident and county home employee Rita Koharski, who said money isn’t the only thing that should be taken into consideration, especially since its unlikely residents will see a huge savings if the home were to be sold to a private owner.
“It’s not feasible to get rid of this one county home for the poor folks, and for the folks who built it from years past,” Koharski said. “And I don’t see that much of a tax reduction. My taxes have never gone down and we’ve owned our home for 26 years.”
In addition, the legislature also had the opportunity to meet with and talk to Altitude Health Services President Avi Rothner. Lawmakers spent nearly an hour grilling Rothner and bringing various concerns to him. Rothner explained that he currently owns five other nursing facilities and they’ve all seen improvements in service following his purchase of them. He also said that the current situation facing Chautauqua County is not unique.
“This isn’t an argument that makes Chautauqua County special in any way, shape or form,” Rothner explained. “Of course the home is special, of course the residents are special – as in every home and as with every resident. But this is going on as a national discussion and as a local discussion in Nebraska, in California, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. If you’d like I’d be happy to list you 20 counties off the top of my head that have either looked at, are looking at or will be looking at privatization. I mean this in the best way, that this situation is not a special situation. It’s the reality of the world today.”
Majority Leader Larry Barmore (R-Gerry), said that when the sale of the home is to come before the legislature, he believes Rothner is well-suited to make the purchase.
“Should we vote to sell this nursing home, I see no reason absolutely why you should not be the purchaser because I think that you will do everything that we’re looking for in a nursing home purchaser,” Barmore explained. “I think ten years down the road, we’re all going to look back and say, ‘boy that was a smart decision. Look what he’s done. Look how we’ve made improvements. Look how the community has grown.'”
Following the public comment and the Q&A session with Rothner, lawmakers put the resolution to a vote. However, before voting, minority leader Lori Cornell (D-Jamestown) introduced an amendment, calling for the actual sale of the county home to Altitude Health. After much debate on the timing of the amendment, it failed by a vote of 10 to 14. Following the failed amendment vote, the legislature approved the original resolution.
Following the meeting, County executive Greg Edwards said he will now begin finalizing a contract between the county and Altitude Health.
“Now begins the process of affirming those in legally enforceable terms, and then also all the terms that will become significant when you sell an asset of this size with so many special issues – the license for one and the transaction of real properties and of course all the others. It is a significant thing and I’m glad we can finally get started with this process to then move to the next step, which is approval by the legislature of an actual transition of ownership from us to another firm.”
Edwards added he wasn’t completely sure when the contract would be finalized, but that he would like to see it completed within the next couple of months. Once a contract is completed and all terms are agreed to by both parties, it would then need to go to the legislature for its approval and would require 17 votes.
[…] in the country that have received poor ratings because of the service they provide. However, during a county legislature meeting in October, Rothner refuted those claims and assured the legislature he would only work to improve the quality […]