2 nursing facilities planned in county
After months of secret meetings and feeding misinformation to the media, Community Assisted Living Corp. on Friday finally unveiled its plan to build facilities in Watertown and Carthage that will "address the long-term care and assisted living needs in Jefferson County."
Jefferson County Legislator James A. Nabywaniec, R-Calcium, who is also president of the corporation's board, said 168 nursing home beds and 180 assisted-living beds will be made available through the new facilities.
Leaders of the project told the Times last month that they were considering a 100-bed facility. But the numbers were increased during a series of secret meetings, including three held with various county legislators Wednesday.
To realize the overall plan, the county must receive $30 million in funding it will apply for by Aug. 25 through the state Health Department's Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers, or HEAL NY. Mr. Nabywaniec said the state is expected to award HEAL funds Sept. 30.
The overall project is estimated to cost $65.7 million, with $57.1 million for the Watertown facility and $8.6 million for the one in Carthage.
"We feel we have a strong application, and that we have a real community solution that will go to serve the long-term care needs of the community," Mr. Nabywaniec said. "It'll solve a lot of problems, like Whispering Pines (the county-owed facility). With the age of the facility that it is, for us to be able to stay in the adult home-care business, we'd obviously have to build a new facility."
Samaritan Keep Home manages the 50-bed facility at 1240 Coffeen St. If successful with the HEAL application, the county will apply for the conversion of Whispering Pines's beds into assisted-living beds.
Kenneth D. Blankenbush, chairman of the Board of Legislators, said in a corporation news release that the plan will ensure a smooth transition of Whispering Pines residents into the new facilities.
"Once that transition is complete, Whispering Pines will be closed," he said.
That has been the plan since June 2008, when the corporation was awarded 40 assisted-living beds with 31 enriched-housing beds from the state Health Department. County officials have said for two years that if a plan came to fruition, Whispering Pines would be closed.
Residents there most likely would transfer to the Watertown facility, Mr. Nabywaniec said, unless they had family in Carthage and wanted to relocate there once that facility is constructed.
From the corporation's perspective, Mr. Nabywaniec said, HEAL funds would be necessary to get any project accomplished. He said the state Health Department recognized the corporation's inability to be solely responsible for the number of beds that were needed for the county.
The corporation's and the county's partnerships with Samaritan Medical Center and Carthage Area Hospital are vital to bring all of those beds under two roofs, he said.
"I feel there's an opportunity for us to solve an assisted-living problem, and to solve the long-term care solution for Mercy, but of course they'll compete for these funds also, I'm sure," Mr. Nabywaniec said.
Originally, plans called for Mercy's involvement to solidify the HEAL application, but the group felt Mercy's debt issues would prove burdensome. Calls to Mercy's administrative office went unanswered Friday.
Mr. Nabywaniec said the Watertown project would sit somewhere on the 14 available acres that Samaritan owns on outer Washington Street, and will include 168 nursing home beds and 120 assisted-living beds. Samaritan will form a separate corporation to own and operate the new facility, according to the news release.
Carthage Area Hospital will form a new corporation to create a site for a building that will house 60 assisted-living beds. Mr. Nabywaniec said. A specific location has yet to be identified.
Reached Thursday, Carthage Area Hospital Administrator Walter S. Becker told the Times he didn't know anything about the project. As he said that, however, a news release with his name on it announcing the project was being prepared. On Friday, Mr. Becker declined comment.
Although these two projects haven't received funding yet, the corporation already has plans for a third facility, separate from the Watertown and Carthage sites.
"We had a market and feasibility study that showed there is a feasibility we could build something up in the river area. Maybe a 35-bed assisted-living facility would work," Mr. Nabywaniec said. "With that being said, we felt our first strength was to take care of the need here in Watertown where it's greatest."
The need was identified along the St. Lawrence River, he said, since River Hospital, Alexandria Bay, recently announced the closure of its 27-bed skilled nursing facility.
The corporation would have to submit an application to the state Health Department if it wanted those extra 35 beds.
Until then, Mr. Nabywaniec said, it will work on the philanthropic piece for the Watertown and Carthage sites to alleviate some of the funding pressure. The group eventually hopes to receive funds from the Northern New York Community Foundation.
Contributions also will have to be made from Samaritan Medical Center, Carthage Area Hospital and the county, which would be reallocated from the Whispering Pines closure.
"There's a lot of things between A and Z now," Mr. Nabywaniec said.
