New operator begins leasing nursing home

Tuesday, August 4, 2009
By Mary Reeves

Christian Care Center of Shelbyville, a subsidiary of Johnson City-based Care Centers Management Consultants, took over operations of Bedford County Nursing Home on Saturday. The county commission met Monday night in a special called meeting to finalize the paperwork.

"They have all their CON's -- certificates of need -- in order," said Mayor Eugene Ray after the meeting. "Nobody objected at all."

The county retained the nursing home when it sold Bedford County Medical Center in 2005, believing the facility to be profitable. But the nursing home was hit hard last year by fines and a brief moratorium on new admissions. Commissioners made the decision to lease the facility.

The final vote to grant the lease to CCC was made in July, but the county had to wait 30 days while the company was approved by the state.

At Monday's meeting, commissioners went over the contract and inventory, including medicines and food, as a final step. Ray said the company was retaining all current employees.

"They hired everybody back," he said.

Ray sad the county's nursing home committee was also officially disbanded Monday night. The company will pay Bedford County $10,000 per month in rent for the nursing home if it uses the existing cafeteria, which is located in the adjoining old Bedford County Medical Center. If CCMC were to build its own cafeteria, or obtain food service from off-site, it would only have to pay the county $2,000 per month.

Gary Parker, vice president of operations for CCMC, said at a previous meeting the company has no plans to build a cafeteria and would like to continue using the existing facility. If the current cafeteria were to become unavailable, for example, if the county decided to dispose of the hospital building, Parker said CCMC would still like the county to provide a cafeteria.

Bedford County will remain responsible for major structural maintenance -- for example, replacing a roof or an air conditioning unit -- while the company is responsible for other routine maintenance, such as painting, plumbing, landscaping and personal property. The lease also sets requirements for CCMC to provide insurance coverage.

Comments

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It is wonderful that this company is retaining all of the employees but they fail to mention in the article that they have only been promised their jobs for two weeks. Also some of the employees have suffered a cut in pay and loss of their insurance, retirement and so forth. Makes being kept by the new company not so worth it huh? All their hard work for nothing.

-- Posted by montez016 on Wed, Aug 5, 2009, at 1:07 PM

what is being printed is misleading the employees of nursing home have been told they will know by end of month if they still have a job and only nurses and department head are offered insurance even though certified nursing tech are not and yet these people have more contact with patients than anyone and they feed and bathe all your families they also do all direct contact with them and they are the backbone of the nursinghome and other than that a lot of them took pay cuts does this seem fair I think not but as long as commisioners are happy then it is ok if you can sleep at night but i think you will lose a lot of good people in this great transacation but you will get money every month so god bless you all

-- Posted by some 1 who cares on Wed, Aug 5, 2009, at 10:52 PM

I would like to Thank the people of Bedford Co. For allowing me to take care of your friends and family over the last 9 years. But due to an injury that happened last year while taking care of a pt. the new company has let me go. This is fine I can leave there with my head held high. To the ones left working PLEASE remember you are there to take care of the pts. and for some you are all they have. The name may changed but not your GREAT work and Kind Hearts. So please keep up the Great work you are the best around.

-- Posted by proudtech on Sun, Aug 9, 2009, at 12:24 PM

i agree with the comments. the days have changed and the hours.they never know when they are going to work they cant plan anything. where they had set days and now its totally opposite. working short will happen and that will be fine the more money they can save the better and thats crazy. i am afriad patient care will go out the door, because those people are used to working those days and were fine with those days and hours. those people cant go from one paycheck to the next and wonder how many hours they are going to have and what bills they can pay and which ones have to wait.they have families just like the bosses there but they dont have to worry about things like that they get salaries and know they can pay there bills.

-- Posted by keepin my head held high on Sun, Aug 9, 2009, at 9:43 PM