Hillcrest wish list: A bus

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Officials from Hillcrest Nursing Home will begin the process of securing a grant to buy a bus.

The bus would help transport larger residents, with the van lift currently used not very suitable, said Colinda Nappa, Hillcrest Administrator, at the Board of Trustee meeting Tuesday.

A bus would be able to transport more than one person, which would be helpful when more than one resident needs to taken to the doctor's office, she said.

A grant from the Department of Transportation would provide funds to purchase a bus, she said. Applications are due in July.

Vesta Dack, Red Willow County Commissioner, said she would bring the item to other commissioners at the next meeting.

Board member Randy Dean suggested that Nappa, or a Board of Trustee member, attend a "Rewards" committee meeting, that is cooperatively funded by several entities, such as the county and the city.

The committee has two grant writers and votes to approve which projects they will accept.

In other business, the board discussed how to distribute employee raises. Nappa suggested using peer or self evaluations as a way to allocate raises.

Dean noted that the way costs are increasing, from upcoming healthcare costs (employees who do not participate in employer-health insurance in the health care insurance mandate in 2014, must buy insurance from a national exchange, which will cost employers a penalty), vendors increasing costs by 3 percent and other expenses, that room rates may have to increase.

"No one likes to talk about it (room rate increases)...but we can't keep taking in costs, with vendors and raises..." he said.

Nappa talked about unbilled ancillary costs. There is a fee for wheelchairs, she said, but continence supplies are being given away, with those supplies increasing in cost.

Dean said the new software now being installed in the system will be able to track exactly where money is being spent and how much, to give Nappa a better picture of where the costs are coming from.

Nappa agreed. "It's not an easy conversation to have (about increasing costs) but we need to operate like a business," she said.

Hillcrest "has the capability of being a phenomenal facility," she said later in the discussion.

In other business:

* the board heard an update on the group health insurance. Renewal of the health insurance policy for Hillcrest employees is due in August

* The 50th anniversary of Hillcrest is June 6, with activities being planned. The first employee at Hillcrest is scheduled to attend.

* updates were given on the "Volunteer Tea" and events concerning "Nursing Home Week" May 12-18.

* Nappa asked board members to e-mail her nominations for the open vacancy on the Hillcrest Foundation Board.

* Nappa is in the process of putting together the 2013-14 budget