Is privatizing right for Winchester House?

In 2007, the Lake County Board voted to continue public support of Winchester House, but economic issues have arisen which may be playing into the hands of those who feel insulated from the needs of vulnerable elders who need quality, affordable, skilled care.

One issue is whether to privatize Winchester House management to gain cost savings, or to achieve better efficiency. Cost saving may occur by terminating existing county employees and then have the private management firm rehire them at reduced wages and benefits more in line with peer operations.

One might think these services should be more highly rewarded instead of merely being average in a peer group. The technology and demand for elder care is continuously escalating as we all age and the care givers must be more highly trained than in the old days. Let’s recognize their valuable service by improving their pay and benefits, especially for those that have had a record of outstanding service and experience.

Privatization can accomplish this if they are selective in their rehire and compensation decisions but the profit motive may be an obstacle. Less than 0.5 percent of your property tax bill goes for support of Winchester House which is otherwise funded by by Medicaid and Medicare as well as private payers.

There seems to be good argument that the levy ought to be increased. We should also be wary of a future rationale to transfer the facility to a private firm at a bargain price made possible by Lake County taxpayer investments.

Contact your county board commissioners and ask them where they stand on this issue. How much do they believe quality of effort and care is related to compensation? Ask them to be sure that the future management of Winchester House is adequately funded with pay and benefits commensurate with the difficult nature of their jobs.

John McDonald

Libertyville