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It certainly is in everyone's best interest that Clinton County's largest nursing home is safe, well run and affordable.
We certainly sense that belief is behind the Clinton County commissioners' decision to sell the nursing home to Allaire Health Services based in Freehold, N.J.
Commissioners Jeff Snyder, Miles Kessinger and Angela Harding took care to offer comprehensive explanations for the sale when announcing it last Thursday.
So who are the new owners?
They have one facility a couple of counties away in Danville, Pa.
Allaire reports it manages/owns five large nursing homes/medical facilities as follows:
– Allaire Rehab and Nursing in Freehold, N.J., is the "only Special Care Nursing Facility (SCNF) in the state of New Jersey to offer long term care and therapy for young individuals who suffer from neurological impairment, in addition to standard short and long-term rehabilitation stays."
– Morris View Healthcare Center offers "top-notch subacute care, dementia care, and respite care, Morris View Healthcare center delivers individualized comfort and care in the heart of Morris Township, N.J."
– Morristown Post Acute Rehabilitation & Nursing Center offers "a rejuvenating backdrop for your recovery" and is located adjacent to Morristown, N.J., Medical Center."
– Grandview Nursing and Rehabilitation in Danville offers "subacute rehabilitation and long term care in a warm, family-like environment."
– The Center For Living & Rehabilitation is at Bennington, Vt., and is a "premier nursing home located on the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center campus."
The sale of Susque-View, meanwhile, is expected to be finalized in March, with Allaire entering into a management agreement on Feb. 8. The facility is managed by Quest Healthcare.
We were told the 95 staff members employed at the facility will remain at Susque-View after the transition is complete.
But we also have learned that some, if not all, are being asked to re-apply for their positions.
That may just be a formality. We believe some of the facility's employees are unionized.
We're also told by a source close to the facility that it lost some 10 staff members recently because they refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Susque-View is close to many people's hearts.
Many a loved one has called the facility their home.
It has been the talk of a sale for years.
No longer.
So it seems clear that challenges with staffing -- especially amid the pandemic -- had the most to do with why the place is being sold.
"If we didn't believe that staff were going to be secure, have more opportunities and better opportunities, we may not have moved forward with the idea to sell. The current market for skilled nurses is competitive. A non-profit has a very difficult time competing for available talent. Susque-View has been reliant on agency nurses for quite some time," Harding said. "We needed to make sure the folks who live here, are raising their families here, and work there are going to have employment and the possibility of a bright future."
Upgrades for the facility and offering better wages to employees were not possible as a non-profit, said Kessinger, who serves as secretary for the board of trustees.
As pointed out, Susque-View is one of just a few county-owned nursing centers left in Pennsylvania.
And as Kessinger said, with the way healthcare has changed and become more specialized, it seemed the right time to sell.
The county owns the building and property. An appraisal set the market value at $12 million, the sale price.
That seems somewhat low to us for such a large facility connected directly to a hospital. We are not real estate experts. But we remember when Lock Haven Hospital was sold for a fraction of its value a bunch of years back to a for-profit company that later sold it to UPMC.
That said, we welcome Allaire to Clinton County and look forward to the company maintaining and improving one of the most valued institutions in our region.