Valley Hi director resigns
The top official at the McHenry County-run Valley Hi nursing home resigned abruptly this week in the wake of a scathing report describing the facility as "managerially dysfunctional."
The report found the facility last year spent about $2 million more than it made because its leadership spent too much and failed to take advantage of revenue opportunities.
The county board's Valley Hi Committee accepted Administrator Timothy Wenberg's resignation Thursday and directed county staff to begin exploring options for his replacement, including the possibility of turning over management of the 127-bed nursing home to a private company.
"We're going to have to get someone highly experienced in there to turn this around," committee member Jim Kennedy said. "We have to understand that it might cost us more initially, but the problem is so bad we have to be willing to bite the bullet and do it right."
Wenberg, 62, declined comment on the reasons for his sudden departure after 4½ years as administrator, but confirmed he will remain in place until Nov. 1 if the county does not have a replacement before then.
"I have a lot to do before I leave and I want to get working on that," he said.
Valley Hi Committee Chairwoman Mary Lou Zierer said Wenberg's resignation was not entirely voluntary and stemmed directly a highly critical audit of his financial management.
"We offered him the choice of resigning, and he did," she said. "The audit told us there were too many things going on there that we didn't get reports on."
The 22-page report, unveiled publicly Thursday, blasted the facility for a lack of control or foresight in its financial management.
"By now it should be obvious that Valley Hi has a revenue problem," the report from St. Louis-based Management Performance Associates Inc. states. "In the course of our work, we found no evidence that revenue was managed in any way."
The firm's president, Michael Scavotto, said the situation has reached the point where the home is receiving less revenue from its residents than it is from property taxes.
"If you say you see a light at the end of the tunnel, that's incorrect because that's the train coming," he said. "In no business, whether it be government or private, can this be a sustainable position."
The audit recommends the facility reduce its costs in part by re-evaluating the level of care given to each resident. Residents at Valley Hi receive more costly "skilled" nursing care at a rate more than four times greater than a similar facility in Lake County and 30 times greater than one in DeKalb County, the report states.
The report also suggests the nursing home begin charging more for residents who fund their own care, charge for ancillary services like incontinence and wound care, explore new revenue streams and revamp the home's business office.
The good news, according to the report, is that despite the financial crisis, the quality of care provided to residents remains high.
"From a glass half-full approach, we're doing a fantastic job taking care of people out there," County Administrator Peter Austin said. "But there are these other issues we need to address."