Wednesday, July 14, 2010

For Manor residents, home is at stake

County officials say lack of funding threatens nursing facility


By KATHERINE WUTZ
Express Staff Writer

Alba Arndt celebrates her 100th birthday at Blaine Manor in June.

The first thing a visitor might notice when walking into Blaine Manor is the lack of that odd, institutional smell that characterizes most nursing facilities.

Other differences quickly become apparent, such as the residents' colorful bedspreads, the warmly painted walls and the roaming therapy pets. There's even a garden where residents and volunteers grow vegetables used in the Hailey facility's meals.

The garden, however, is only accessible through a gate secured with a bungee cord and a trick handle, as a precaution against wandering residents.

"Some of our residents have advanced dementia and mild Alzheimer's," explained Stephanie Jaskowski, director of finance and human resources.

The gate and adjoining wheelchair ramp bring the needs of the manor's residents into sharp focus. Blaine Manor provides medical care and housing for about 25 residents who are either ill or otherwise unable to remain in their own homes.

The future of this service is at stake in the upcoming Blaine Manor levy election, set to occur Aug. 3. The levy would increase property taxes for two years by an estimated $9.40 for each $100,000 in assessed value, and would cover the manor's expenses for three years.

The manor relies heavily on county funding to cover its expenses. Jaskwoski said that although the manor receives funding from Medicare, Medicaid and some payment from residents, insurance only covers the cost of a room, not the cost of care.

In a continuing-care facility like the planned Croy Canyon Ranch—proposed for a site west of Hailey—revenue from independent and assisted living, in which residents need less medical care, helps cover the expenses of skilled nursing.

Blaine Manor currently only offers skilled nursing, and has no way of gaining the extra revenue that a tiered-care facility would.

"A skilled-nursing facility would find it difficult to be self-sustaining without more beds than we have," Jaskowski said.

The county has spent an average of about $597,000 per year to cover Blaine Manor's operating expenses over the past nine years. Unable to sustain these costs from its current budget, the county is asking its residents to vote on the temporary levy. The plan is to help cover the costs of Blaine Manor until its planned replacement facility, Croy Canyon Ranch, is built.

If the levy doesn't pass, the future of Blaine Manor is shaky. County Commissioner Larry Schoen said Blaine Manor provides a "critical" service to the county, and the board will have to make "tough" decisions if the levy is rejected.

"We want to do everything we can to keep Blaine Manor open," Schoen said. "However, ... the board has not removed any options from consideration. What is at stake is the future of Blaine Manor and senior care in Blaine County."

For the residents of Blaine Manor, that means their home is at risk. If the facility is forced to close or substantially reduce its services, many of its residents would have to move to Shoshone or Twin Falls until Croy Canyon Ranch or another facility is built locally.

Jaskowski said the Shoshone Rehab and Living Center is also a small facility "hanging by threads" financially.

Many people are either not trained or cannot afford to move elderly relatives into their own homes, said Michael Ayers, Blaine Manor's activities director. For many in Blaine County, moving relatives into the nearby Manor is an attractive option.

Linda Haavik, director of the Croy Canyon Foundation and head of Friends of Blaine Manor, said traveling to Shoshone or Twin Falls places an "enormous burden" on both the person needing the care and his or her family.

"It can be devastating to a person's recuperation and on their lives," she said.

John Bollinger said that when his mother-in-law, Anna Beltran, moved into the Shoshone facility in 2006, she spent a lot of time crying.

"She was not happy there at all," he said.

Beltran had been assigned to share a room and bathroom with three other people, and Bollinger said the whole building had the distinct "nursing home" smell that Blaine Manor lacks. He and his wife moved Beltran out of the center and into Blaine Manor about six weeks later.

"It's so much better than the homes my parents were in," Bollinger said. "It's a very well-run operation. She's much happier there."

Jaskowski said many of Blaine Manor's long-term residents have been long-term residents of Blaine County—people she calls the "pioneers" of the county.

"We've had everyone from schoolteachers to prestigious world prize winners, from barkeeps to ranchers," she said. "I feel pretty honored to work with the range of people we've had come through here."

That range includes Alba Arndt, Blaine Manor's 100-year-old resident who has lived in Blaine County since 1946. Though she is relatively healthy, Arndt has lost her sight and is frail enough to require skilled nursing.

Arndt's good friend and caretaker, Barbara Dargatz, said she is in favor of the levy.

"I don't know what the senior citizens in Blaine County would do without [Blaine Manor]," Dargatz said.

Bollinger also said he's in favor of the levy.

"I'm a property owner, so I'm not excited about paying more taxes," Bollinger said, "but I'm behind [this levy]."

Bollinger said he isn't sure what will happen to his mother-in-law if Blaine Manor cuts funding or closes.

"She thinks of that place as her home now," he said.

The staff at the manor has worked hard over the past five years to erase the institutional feel that the facility used to have, Jaskowski said, and the staff makes an effort to engage with the residents, to make them feel comfortable and involved.

"This is a home, this is a family environment," she said. "We're all one big family here."

Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com




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