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What Does Future Hold For County Owned Nursing Homes?

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An article this week covered the recent sale of county nursing homes in Armstrong and Washington Counties.  The article notes that the number of counties in Pennsylvania “…owning nursing homes is exactly half of what it was in 2014, 18 instead of 36”. The presentation made in Washington County on June 1st to the Board of Commissioners placed the number of counties at 20, noting that Armstrong County was in the process of selling theirs.  Three years ago Butler County sold its nursing home.

The question is whether having county owned nursing homes is a core function of county government.  Obviously, in the counties where sales have occurred, the opinion was no.  Or financial issues arrived at a point where officials were convinced that the service was no longer a core one, or an offer was made by an outside party that did the convincing.

The Allegheny County Chief Executive (speaking to the Kane Regional Centers) said it is, but conditioned it as long as performance is effective and, due to the relative size of the operating deficits of the facilities in the County budget, it is not a concern; the County’s 2014 sunset review said that the County is not mandated by state or federal law “…to establish nursing homes” but “While numerous studies have been conducted that explored alternatives, it was concluded that the Kane system’s ability to serve the elderly poor is extremely effective”; the Institute’s 1997 report on the Kanes stated it was “…not a core function of government”. And while the article today quoted the director of the Allegheny County Kane Regional Centers has never received a firm offer for selling the Kanes, an article from 2012 stated the County “…often hears from parties interested in purchasing the assets of the Kane Regional Centers” but then, as now, the Executive stated there was no real desire to sell them.

 

 

 

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Allegheny Institute
Allegheny Institute

The Allegheny Institute is a non-profit research and education organization. Our mission is to defend the interests of taxpayers, citizens and businesses against an increasingly burdensome and intrusive government.

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