Letter to the Editor published in the May 31, 2023 issue of the Tomahawk Leader.

Lincoln County Board Chair Don Friske on Pine Crest Nursing Home

 In June of 2022 the Lincoln County Board formed an ADHOC committee to prepare a report on the Pine Crest Nursing Home. The ADHOC committee submitted its report to the board at the March county board meeting. The report can be found online on the Lincoln County website or copies have been supplied to the local libraries.

Pine Crest Nursing Home has not been able to cover its operating expenses since 2007, with a couple of years being the exception. In addition Lincoln County has contributed $1,000,000 dollars a year for maintenance and repairs every year since contracting with North Central Health Care in 2019. In 2023 North Central Health Care made a request for $1.1 million dollars to cover the 2022 shortfall in operating expenses. By contract we are obligated to cover that shortfall. At the last county board meeting, the board voted to pay the shortfall out of ARPA funds unless the state provides the money in the next budget.

Given the information presented, On May 16, the County Board directed the Administrative and Legislative committee to complete a Request for Proposal (RFP) to secure a broker to investigate the possibility for the sale of the Pine Crest Nursing home. The process will take multiple steps over the next few months. First the Administrative and Legislative Committee (A&L) will submit a Request for Proposals (RFP). The next step is to publicly open those proposals and decide which Broker will represent the county for considering any potential offers to purchase. That decision making process will occur at the following A&L committee. Following that, A&L will explore conditions of sale and what the county would expect in order to move forward. Any offer to purchase the Pine Crest Nursing Home will need a majority vote by the full county board.

When considering responses to the RFP from brokers, the A&L committee will continue to make decisions in line with our three guiding principles; the residents of Pine Crest will continue to reside there and receive care, the staff providing the care to the residents/patients are able to continue to provide that care and the tax payer is well represented during the considerations.

I anticipate that a final determination will take several months or longer and I want to assure the staff and residents of pine crest as well as their families we will have your interests in mind as we continue to consider the best way forward.

While the 22 member county board may disagree on how to best move forward, the one thing I have seen the board agree on is that the discontinuation of a skilled nursing home (Pine Crest) is not an option we are willing to consider.

Don Friske

Lincoln County Board Chair