Costs force Hillcrest to drop VA

McCOOK, Neb. — Hillcrest Nursing Home will no longer be a contracted Veteran’s Administration facility.

The Hillcrest Board of Trustees voted Tuesday at its regular meeting not to renew the contract with the VA, citing increased wage requirements mandated in the contract that reimbursement payments would not fully cover.

The wage requirements were an additional 10 cents per hour plus sick leave, as well as a $4.27 per hour increase to cover insurance. The extra expense is not one the nursing home can handle at this time, said Randy Dean, board president.

Current veteran residents who are at Hillcrest under a VA contract will have the option of moving to another VA-contracted facility or to change to a different source of payment for Hillcrest. There are currently three veterans at the facility who qualify for VA care.

Hillcrest was has been a contracted facility for the U.S. Veterans Administration for three and half years, first approved in October 2013.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, financial information was presented, with an approximate net loss of $160,883 for the month of March. Colinda Nappa, Hillcrest executive director, added that March also had three pay periods that average between $168,000 and $171,000. As for financials, “We will need to wait until after the audit is complete to do adjustments into the new system, in order to have financials print in just one system,” she said.

In other business,

* Board members Mike Skolout and Mike Eklund, along with Hillcrest business manager, Renee Wright, have been in contact with the auditors concerning the annual audit of the facility.

They told the board that the auditors have all the information needed and that the auditors are now trying to schedule a time to physically be at Hillcrest.

The two board members are a committee that was formed at March’s board meeting, in response to the auditors not responding to Nappa’s attempt at contacting them. Nappa said there were over 10 emails sent with no response and at least five phone calls, not returned.

The auditor recently did respond to Nappa, she said, who apologized for not getting back to her. Nappa theorized that perhaps it was because she was trying to contact him during tax season. She thanked the board members for “stepping up to help in a situation where we were not getting any response.”

* The special care unit, that accommodates Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, will be remodeled starting next week. At their February meeting, the board voted 3 to 2 to remodel the area by moving a set of doors, so four rooms from the special care unit will be designated to the general Hillcrest population. Population in the special care unit is unpredictable, Nappa told the board at the February meeting, with only eight beds utilized in the past year; yet as of February, there were six people on the waiting list for the general population. With each room having two beds, and each bed costing $5,000 per month, a potential of $40,000 of revenue could be realized with the remodel. The work is being done in-house by Rick Bradley, Hillcrest environmental services director. Six rooms will still be designated for the special care unit.

* Two abuse complaints were investigated last month by the state and investigators found no abuse occurring. Puzzles and other items have been donated to Hillcrest, as well as financial contributions for memorials and giving in honor of a resident. Several new nurses and aides have been hired since last month.

* Nappa presented two mission statements that were submitted by staff, with another given by a staff member attending Tuesday’s board meeting. The board had asked at last month’s meeting that staff submit ideas for a mission statement.

The board tabled a decision on choosing a mission statement until next month.