DIRECTOR: HEALTH CARE CENTER NEEDS MORE REVENUE
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 -- 12:24 PM
With Clark County hurting for money and the Clark County Health Care Center hemorrhaging, something must give.The facility is deficit spending.
Last year, they used about $1-million of their fund balances. County records show there's not much left.
Instead of making cuts, Executive Director Jane Schmitz hopes the county will look for ways to increase revenue.
"We're looking o.k. for 2009," she says, "Our cash balances are going down. We're looking for ways to raise more revenue."
Aside from increasing their share of the tax levy, CCHCC's options are limited.
"We're looking at different programs that we currently don't have under our roof at this point?that pay for themselves," Schmitz says.
But, she concedes costs might also need to increase.
She is not receptive to the Center making more cuts.
"Basically, we've gone to reductions with our workforce and our programming. We kind of made our reductions and now we're looking at ways to rebuild," she says.
Last week, a county board member questioned why the facility, funded in part by Clark County taxpayers, accepts out-of-county residents.
Schmitz says two-thirds of the residents are Clark County residents.
Plus, she says care for special needs individuals is a two-way street.
"There are people that live within Clark County that we might not be able to serve because we can't meet their needs, they would need to go to other facilities outside the county," Schmitz says.
Still, Schmitz agrees it would "make sense" to seek a payment from neighboring counties that have residents at the Health Care Center, though it wouldn't be that easy.
"In today's world, I would say it does make sense. Everyone is under the same financial restrictions," Schmitz says, "You have to be careful with that. It's against federal medication regulation to supplement (Medical Assistance)."
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.