Air conditioning out, Wauneta nursing home residents find relief in McCook

McCOOK, Neb. – “This is a neighbor helping a neighbor,” according to Ron Ross, President of Rural Health Development which is the organization that provides management services for both Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook and Wauneta Care Center in Wauneta, Neb.

Complications arose at the Wauneta facility when a new HVAC system was being installed. “Nothing goes as fast as you want it to,” Ross said, explaining that some parts for the new system were delayed. “Parts of the building would be cool from what has already been finished, but a large part of the building would have just gotten terribly warm,” Ross said. Temperatures on Monday hit triple digits, with forecasts continuing to be in the high 90s for the rest of the week.

So, James Foster, administrator of Hillcrest Nursing Home in McCook, was contacted about the possibility of taking in the 29 residents of the Wauneta Care Facility. Hillcrest had rooms available, and with the staffing assistance provided by the Wauneta facility, would be able to accommodate the residents. “If that would not have been able to take place, we would have had to piecemeal the residents out to the different facilities in the area. So, it was just a godsend that Hillcrest was in a position to where we could bring all of our residents to one facility.”

The residents at the Wauneta Care Facility were from the Wauneta area, so landing close to home was important to them and the staff.

Ross also had high praise for the staff at the Wauneta Care Center, who “stepped up to the plate” and will be helping to staff Hillcrest Nursing Home for the two to four weeks it may take to complete the HVAC work at Wauneta.

The move happened Monday, with handicap-accessible vans belonging to Hillcrest, Wauneta Care Facility, Benkelman, and Grant being utilized to move the residents.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with how that transition took place yesterday. It was yeoman’s work for everybody. Everybody just really stepped up hard and it went smooth. The residents are doing fine. They appreciate being in a cool building.”

“We’re just so appreciative of James (Foster) over here as the administrator and the entire staff at Hillcrest. We notified the board members, and they are very supportive of helping Wauneta, and so it’s just been a team effort. And again, it’s just an example of neighbors helping neighbors and that’s what we should do.”

Because of staffing issues, as well as COVID-related requirements, Hillcrest had a census of 49 residents prior to taking in the Wauneta residents. Hillcrest Administrator James Foster said Hillcrest would not be taking new admissions for a few days. “Until we see how this works for a little bit, we’ve put admissions on hold.

“And then once we make sure we’ve got the kinks worked out, we’ll go back to business as usual,” Foster said.