Funding Cuts
Presbyterian Village Faces Funding Cuts
This photo and article by Becky Schipper is reprinted courtesy of the Ackley World Journal:
Schools are not the only place that budget cuts are hitting hard. Just ask Julie Hinders, CEO/Administrator of Presbyterian Village in Ackley. The look on her face will tell the story. Couple those budget cuts with some of the lowest reimbursement rates in the country, and you have a recipe for tough times. In some cases, facilities are closing wings or making lay-offs in order to meet their budgets.
"Long term care facilities are struggling," she explains. "We're all in the same boat. The funding system is inadequate which is causing some Iowa facilities to close the doors or refuse care to those on Title XIX."
Presbyterian Village is not one of them. Fortunately the Ackley facility continues to meet their mission of serving everyone, in spite of the cuts. "Thirty-five percent of our population are Title IX patients," Julie states. "Each day, we face a loss of up to $31 per day for each of these residents. That doesn't include their personal items such as over-the-counter medications, incontinence briefs and more that aren't covered."
In most facilities those costs get passed on to private-paying residents.
"At the Village we depend upon our foundation to help cover those losses," states Hinders. "Unfortunately, donations to the foundation are also down due to the economy - a double whammy."
She adds that the economy is raising the number of those who are or will soon rely upon Medicaid. "We see residents who are cashing in CD's, dipping into their savings, and more to maintain their care. They're doing all they can."
Hinders, and the staff at Presbyterian Village are also doing all they can and have already made some big changes in order to continue meeting the needs of those who call the Village home. "We've restructured benefits for the staff and have cut hours in every department," she states. "We're not doing big lay-offs. We have a strong commitment to keeping our staff."
As Ackley's biggest employer, the task is not easy. The 170 staff members have been asked to brainstorm ideas where costs might be shaved. "We've told them that no idea is too small or unimportant. My door is always open (for suggestions). There are no bad ideas." she remarked. "Most of our employees, even some that are most affected, are very positive and are coming up with many ways for us to trim the budget." From different work schedules, discontinuing the uniform allowance to ideas for generating additional revenue, the staff is pulling together in an effort to help the facility.
"We are working hard to reduce expenses while maintaining quality care for our residents," she reports. Hinders notes that along with reducing overtime, changing benefits and hours for staff, they have changed the pharmacy they use to a smaller Iowa-based company with less overhead. They've also changed their workman's comprehensive insurance carrier and supply vendors along with looking into new grants and more.
"We have to meet regulations and maintain our quality of care. We can pull the covers over our head and hope to survive the economic crisis, or we can take control of our destiny and invest in our future." She continued, "We are choosing the latter and our board has been holding long range planning meetings to map our future. Rather than just make cuts, we are also looking at ways to generate more revenue, including program expansion and new fund raising initiatives." The facility remains a non-profit organization, governed by a local board with decisions being made locally.
"We will celebrate our 75th anniversary next year and we want to be sure we are here for another 75 years," Hinders pointed out. "While the times we are facing right now are difficult, we are choosing to be optimistic about the future."
Zoey Presbytery
Make sure to stop in and meet our newest resident "Zoey". She is our 8 week old black lab puppy. She is a vibrant, energetic little puppy and the residents just love her. We would also like to thank all the people that have donated things for her dog food, leash, treats, collar, etc. Everyone has just been very generous.
Remembering 2009
You can purchase the DVD "Remembering 2009". The purchase price of the DVD is $5.00 and you can order with the Activities Department.
Guest Meals
As of February 1, 2010 our guest meals will be going up to $6.00 per ticket.
Guest Room Rates
Effective immediately our Guest Room rates will be increasing. Guest Room A will now be $40.00 for the first person and $20.00 for the second person per night. Guest Room B will now be $35.00 for the first person and $20.00 for the second person.
Genesis Place Independent Living Apartments
We now have available a 2 bedroom apartment with garage available. Call Kristie at 641-847-3531 set up an appointment to view.
2009 Award Winners
We have more Award winners roaming our halls at the Presbyterian Village. Kirk Walters won Employee of the Year: Support staff and Gertrude "Sis" Ackerman Employee of the month Caregiver. Congratulations to both winnders they are very deserving of these awards. You make the Village a great place to work.
Award Winners
Did you know that the Presbyterian Village has 2 award winners at our facility? Terry Kondora our maintanence supervisor won IAHSA's Employee of the year: Support Staff and Georgetta Dohlman won IAHSA's Employee of the year: Caregiver. We are very honored to have these two working at our facility. They are both dedicated and hard working employees. Good job Terry and George!
|
