Winchester House management change progressing
A plan to turn over the operation of Lake County's Winchester House nursing home to a private company cleared a key hurdle Tuesday.
With a split vote, the county board's health and community services committee favored hiring Health Dimension Group to run the facility, which has been owned and operated by the county for decades.
The Minneapolis firm was one of two companies that bid for the contract. If eventually approved by the full board, the company will be paid $50,000 per month to operate the nursing home.
County leaders and Winchester House supporters have touted the facility as a safety net for the county's poor, elderly and ill.
But declining patient demand, the changing nature of the health care industry, rising costs and building-improvement needs have made the effort financially untenable, officials have said.
“We can't keep running it ourselves,” County Board Chairman David Stolman recently told the Daily Herald.
County leaders have visited five facilities run by Health Dimensions Group and spoken with staffers, both in announced and surprise visits. County Administrator Barry Burton was impressed.
“It's a real quality group,” he told the Daily Herald.
Regardless, some county board members have opposed giving Winchester House to a private company for operation, saying the move would result in lower wages and fewer benefits for workers. Waukegan Democrat Mary Ross Cunningham also is concerned some workers might not be hired by the company after the transfer.
“People might lose their jobs, and they've got babies to feed,” Cunningham said.
During Tuesday's discussion, Health Dimensions Group CEO Craig Abbott said his company historically has kept 95 percent of the existing staff when it's taken over a public nursing home.
And if the facility closes because the county can't afford to run it anymore, everyone working there would lose their jobs, said committee member Steve Carlson, a Gurnee Republican.
“I look at it as 95 percent or none,” Carlson said.
The committee approved the deal with a 7-2 vote. Cunningham and Grayslake Democrat Melinda Bush cast the “no” votes.
If the full board approves the deal Oct. 11, the county will retain the license for Winchester House and control of the facility, Burton said.
The proposed contract calls for Health Dimensions Group to operate Winchester House for two years. Two additional one-year renewals are possible, too.
The deal would save the county an estimated $1.5 million annually and allow officials to raise money for the long-proposed construction of a new, smaller Winchester House. That facility is expected to cost between $32 million and $36 million, Burton said.
In opposing privatization, Bush questioned if the board actually intends to build a new Winchester House.
“Will that be the next thing that's not important?” she said.
More county board committees will discuss the matter this week.