The Health and Human Services Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, July 2, 2007 @ 6:30p.m. in the Administration Building’s Conference Room East.  Chairman Robert Rosemier called the meeting to order.  Members present were Pat LaVigne, Jeff Metzger, Sr., Richard Osborne and Paul Stoddard.  Ms. Fullerton was absent.  Others present were Cathy Anderson and Mary Olson-Ramp.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

          Moved by Ms. LaVigne, seconded by Mr. Osborne, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from June 2007.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

          Moved by Mr. Metzger, Sr., seconded by Mr. Stoddard, and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda as presented.

CATHY ANDERSON, ADMINISTRATOR, FOR THE DEKALB COUNTY REHAB AND NURSING CENTER

Chairman Rosemier introduced Ms. Cathy Anderson, Administrator for the DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center.  She has worked for the Nursing Home for over 30 years.  She said that they are the oldest healthcare provider in the County.  They started in 1853 for people needing public assistance.  The original building cost $247.00  on Barber Greene Road.  In 1856 they hired the first doctor and they also hired a superintendent.  They then started reporting to the town overseers. The mission of the townships was to care for the poor.  That is when the townships involvement began. 

In 1871 they built the poor farm and the cemetery, which is still there.  In 1914 they built the brick building where the old health department was, that ran parallel to the highway.  In 1931 they began billing the townships and in 1945 they changed the name to the County Nursing Home. 

In 1959 there were 153 patients.  In 1968 they began to build the three-story building that housed the nursing home on Sycamore Road.  In 2000 they moved to the current facility off of Annie Glidden Road.  They have a total of 190 beds and that the latest census shows between 178 – 180 patients live there.  They can take patients beginning at 21 years old.  This is the largest nursing facility in the County and will continue to be after the new Kishwaukee Hospital opens up.

There is an Altzheimer’s Director who runs that section of the nursing home. They have 38 patients in this unit. They are currently looking at long-range care for dementia now. 

Their goal is to provide nursing and ancillary services.  They give priority to hospitalized county residents.  The admissions process is hospital first and then the rotation with township supervisors.  There is a two-year residency requirement for DeKalb and Sycamore townships for admission.

Ms. Anderson said that the most cases that they see at the nursing home are patients with pulmonary disease (congested heart failure), infections and emphysema.  Their oldest patient is 102 years old.  She said that they are seeing more people with ALS and MS, too.  In Paw Paw there is a cluster of people with MS and studies have been done on it because the numbers are high.  When state surveyors from the Rockford region come into the facility they always tell her that we have more MS patients then any other facility that they visit.  She also said that they see patients with heart disease and diabetes. 

She said that they couldn’t accept mental health patients with serious mental health problems like, severe bipolar, suicidal tendencies, etc.  She said that the mental health care in this country is shameful.

They also do not accept patients with ventilators or patients with serious wound care cases.  They have no on-site dialysis treatment either.

Ms. Anderson continued by stating that the County owns the Rehab and Nursing Center but they report to a separate board that is appointed by the County Board.  She is the Administrator and Mr. Mike Scavatto is the off-site Manager of the facility.  She explained that she is the day-to-day operations administrator of the facility.  She continued by stating that they are very blessed to have strong department heads that work for them.

Ms. LaVigne left at 7:35p.m.

Chairman Rosemier said that you are a separate entity from the County and you have been doing very well.  Is there a balancing act between private pay and Medicare/Medicaid patients?  Do you see it continuing into the future, that is, being in the “black”?

Ms. Anderson said that she thinks so.  What they are doing is trying to carve out their own niche.  We don’t really control the type of patient that we receive, she continued.  Their whole facility is Medicare/Medicaid certified.  If you are a long-term resident and you fall and break your hip and you qualify for Medicare services you can go right back to your old room and get Medicare benefits from that room, she said.  They do not move a patient to a Medicare hall.

Ms. Anderson then informed the committee who sits on the DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center Operating Board and who runs the nursing home.  She said that Mr. Michael Scavatto, is the off-site Manager, she is a nurse and is the Administrator.  Mr. Scavatto runs the big picture, the long-range planning and the financial items.  She runs the day–to-day operations and nursing along with the Director of Nursing. 

Chairman Rosemier asked Ms. Anderson if there is a plan for backup management plans.  Who can do what you do if something happens to you? 

Ms. Anderson said that her Director of Nursing could perform the duties that she does. 

Chairman Rosemier asked Ms. Anderson if the number of beds in her facility, down the road, would be enough? 

Ms. Anderson said that she feels that they do now, but in the future it won’t be enough.

Ms. Anderson then explained that when a resident comes into the facility she does an assessment of them for a certified Medicare/Medicaid bed.  So the federal government knows how many people in the U.S. are in a long-term care facility, at any moment in time.  This is a huge data collection tool that drives her reimbursement, staffing, the care plan, it drives everything, she said.  They submit it to the federal government and it determines their Medicare rate and Medicaid rate off of it. 

Ms. Anderson continued by stating that if you score above a certain level of need, therapies, and skilled nursing services, you get a Medicare rate. If you score under that you don’t qualify for Medicare.  The lowest Medicare rate is about $160.00 a day and the highest is in the $600’s a day.  Depending on what she scores on this for what they need, she gets a per diem rate for Medicare and all of her costs come out of that. 

Therefore, Ms. Anderson said, 10% of their population is Medicare, which generates 23% of their income.  Medicaid is based on how much help a person needs and what services were provided to them. 

She further stated that Public Aid is 65% of their pay source, which generates 36% of their income.  Private Pay is 25% of their pay source, which generates 36% of their income.  They have an $11.5 million budget and spent $800,000 a year on health insurance and $380,000 on groceries.

The committee thanked Ms. Anderson for her very informative report.

Before adjourning, Chairman Rosemier said that he had invited Mr. Dan Templin to the August meeting to hear his report on Phase I of the Needs Assessment Study.  The Regional Superintendent of Schools will be reporting to the committee at the September meeting.

ADJOURNMENT        

          Moved by Mr. Metzger, Sr., seconded by Mr. Stoddard, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.

                                                Respectfully submitted by,

                                                ____________________________________

                                                 Chairman Robert Rosemier

_________________________________

Mary C. Supple, Secretary