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Read comments (2)The question was worded simply: "Should Bedford County sell Bedford County Nursing Home?"
Of the 264 who voted in the poll, 149, or 56.4 percent, favor selling the nursing home, while 115, or 43.6 percent, oppose selling it. Any voluntary, self-selected poll is not scientific because there's no way to guarantee that the people who choose to participate in the poll represent a true cross-section of the public.
Originally, the county owned both Bedford County Medical Center and Bedford County Nursing Home, which are located in adjoining buildings. Several years ago, the county sold the hospital to Community Health Systems, which is building a new facility on U.S. 231 North of Shelbyville. The county retained the nursing home, believing it to be profitable. And it has been profitable, after some initial hiccups.
But there has been some speculation that operating costs will rise once the hospital moves out of its building. The nursing home had been contracting with the hospital for food service; now, it will have to provide its own food service. The county commission's courthouse and county property committee heard last week that a large boiler which currently serves both the hospital and the nursing home will be expensive to operate and can't easily be scaled back for just the nursing home's needs.
The market for health care in general is changing, and a representative from a company looking to buy the nursing home claimed when speaking to the committee that it's harder and harder for stand-alone facilities, not part of a chain, to keep up with changing Medicare and Medicaid regulations.
The county has also worried about what to do with the hospital building once it is vacant.
But others say that the county owes it to its citizens to hold on to the nursing home, fearing that any for-profit operator will have a stricter admissions policy and leave some citizens unable to afford long-term nursing home care.
"No," responded one poll participant to the idea of selling, "because the good people of Shelbyville need the care."
Another participant favored selling the facility only if the county could ensure that it would still be used as a nursing home.
Look for additional polls on the front page and the sports page of the Times-Gazette web site, t-g.com.
Maybe there are other solutions out there people wiser than I could see.
I'd wonder if the lower floor of the hospital could be converted for skilled care or above while upper floors could provide administrative offices or apartments for ambulatory patients.
Maybe it could be made into housing for patient's families,a shelter or a satellite campus for medical providers with the patient rooms serving as nurses and doctors' dorms,etc.
This would allow it to still work in tandem with the present nursing home.
If our nursing home must close or move,perhaps the whole current set-up could be bought (along with empty neighboring buildings) and turned into a mini-college.
(The car lot could be offices,Medical Arts could become a library,classes would be held in the old hospital,students housed in the nursing home,etc.)
We need to make sure that no one here is left underserved or mishandled anywhere,by anyone for any reason.
We owe the people who have served our community so well and those who need its care now nothing less than the best treatment we can provide.
Since I'm no longer in Shelbyville, I rarely respond to a story. However, having spent time in a for-profit 'skilled' nursing center in Houston, Texas - I wished for Bedford County. It may not be the slickest, but people make the difference. And those in Shelbyville are the best around.
When you're stuck with poor physical conditions, lousy staff and people with an attitude I can't describe in print, you appreciate a not-so-modern building with a wonderful group of people.
Hang on...
Moving to Shelbyville was one of the best things I have ever done; leaving - although it was necessary for family reasons - was the worst. Appreciate what you have in the town I still consider home.
Ann Bullard