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News :: Miscellaneous |
Tuesday! Important Meeting on Future of County Nursing Home |
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by Mike Lehman (No verified email address) |
21 Jul 2002
Modified: 04:40:33 PM |
County Board Public Hearing on Question of Putting Nursing Home Referenda on November Ballot
Tuesday, July 23
7pm
County Board Meeting Room
Brookens Administration Building
1776 East Washington St., Urbana |
The Champaign County Board will be holding a public hearing that will be crucial to deciding the future of the County Nursing Home this Tuesday, July 23, at 7pm in the County Board meeting room in the Brookens Administration Building. Workers at the nursing home were the majority of the direct beneficiaries of the Living Wage policy recently adopted by the county. Decisions made at this meeting will have a large impact on the future of these hard-won gains for these workers.
Two different questions will be considered for inclusion on this November's ballot. One will be to fund the renovation and/or rebuilding of the Nursing home, i.e. the bricks and mortar part of the nursing home. The other will ask voters to approve a specific tax to support operations of the nursing home, i.e. the costs associated with actually running the facility, of which the greatest portion goes to paying the staff.
Currently, the nursing home does NOT receive any support from the county general fund for its operations, it being dependent on payments by those who can afford it and income from federal and state reimbursement to pay for the majority of those who cannot afford to contribute for their care.
It is important to note here that, in the past, the county DID PAY for the the retirement and other fringe benefits of the home's employees. This practice was discontinued in the mid-90s, when these funds were raided to pay for other county expenses. It is time, with the impact of budget cuts on federal and state reimbursements, to restore this funding and make a long-term commitment to continuing operation of the home by supporting both the bonding authority to pay for the bricks-and-mortar AND a tax to ensure that the nursing home can meet the costs of operating.
Proposals have been made that call for the privatization of the home. THIS IS NOT A SOLUTION. This would undoubtedly cut the quality of care received by residents and would attempt to renege on the recently established Living Wage policy commitment that the county made.
PLEASE ATTEND the public hearing this Tuesday evening to express your support for placing these referenda on the ballot in November. Please pass this notice along to your organizations and to people you know and ask them to attend to support the nursing home. Public comments will be limited to five minutes. You can also submit written expressions of support at that time or directly to your county board representatives.
The county board will then vote on whether to put these measures on the ballot at its Tuesday, July 30 meeting.
Mike Lehman
Champaign County Living Wage Association |
See also:
http://www.prairienet.org/livingwage/ |