People for Pine Crest rallies support at town hall meeting

MERRILL – A town hall meeting was held Saturday morning, Feb. 1, at the Merrill Enrichment Center, organized by the People for Pine Crest, a group of Lincoln County residents advocating to keep Pine Crest Nursing Home under public ownership.

More than 100 people attended the meeting, including several Lincoln County Supervisors.

The meeting featured multiple speakers who presented perspectives on the financial, logistical and ethical implications of maintaining or selling the facility.

Dorothy Skye with the League of Women Voters provided opening remarks and introduced the speakers. In her opening commentary, she emphasized the growing need for elder care due to demographic shifts indicating Wisconsin is projected to need 33,000 additional senior care beds by 2030 and 26,500 more by 2040.

Sarah Valencia, Assistant Deputy Secretary at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, appeared by Zoom to explain Medicaid trust fund mechanics, detailing how state and federal funds support elder care.

She highlighted a shortfall in Medicaid funds, which does not fully cover nursing home expenses. Medicaid reimbursement rates have increased in recent years, yet challenges remain, she said, as there is then a decrease in supplemental payments.

“The state has really worked hard to increase that initial funding,” Valencia said, referencing a 27% Medicaid reimbursement increase in 2023 and additional planned increases through 2027. “We have really tried to increase the Medicaid reimbursement rate ... for any nursing home type – county-run, non-profit, for-profit.”

Valencia also reviewed the change-of-ownership application process, outlining regulatory steps if Pine Crest were to be sold.

Rene Eastman, Senior Vice President of Leading Age Wisconsin, a statewide membership association of nonprofit corporations dedicated to serving the needs of aging adults and people with disabilities, presented via a pre-recorded video.

Eastman discussed the impact of Wisconsin’s aging population – the number of people over 75 is expected to increase by 41% this decade, she said.

Staffing shortages remain a critical issue, she said, with 90% of existing nursing homes unable to accept referrals due to lack of staff. That is a key issue for all area nursing homes.

She also compared nursing home closures vs. assisted living growth. According to Eastman, nursing home beds have decreased significantly, and assisted living facilities have expanded, but recently plateaued.

She highlighted a disparity in the quality of care, saying county-owned facilities tend to provide better care than for-profit ones based on publicly-owned nursing homes receiving higher CMS ratings and having more direct-care hours per patient.

Tim Moe, a medical social worker who grew up in Merrill, spoke about his personal experiences from working in elder care and highlighted key differences.

For-profit facilities tend to prioritize cost-cutting, leading to lower staffing levels and reduced quality of care, he said. Whereas, public facilities like Pine Crest tend to be cleaner, livelier and more patient-focused.

Moe’s first job as a teenager was actually working at Pine Crest Nursing Home in Merrill. He encouraged community members to visit and compare different nursing homes to see the differences firsthand.

Eileen Guthrie, a member of People for Pine Crest, summarized publicly-available financial data about Pine Crest and Lincoln County’s ability to fund it.

Pine Crest had a positive operating balance in 2023 and 2024, contrary to prior concerns, she said.

“The sky really isn’t falling,” she stated.

In addition, she stressed that Lincoln County has more than $171 million available in borrowing capacity; however, those funds would, of course, need to be repaid.

She criticized Lincoln County for using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to pay for improvement to campgrounds and prioritizing funding and borrowing for the landfill, while claiming Pine Crest is unaffordable.

Despite workforce challenges, Pine Crest has continued to provide high quality care, she said, but the uncertainty surrounding its future has already led to employee turnover.

“Pine Crest has seen 49 employees leave so far in 2024,” Guthrie said. “11 to 12 of them indicated it was due to the worry or the unstable environment of its future.”

Marge Roggenbuck, another member of People for Pine Crest, outlined the organization’s grassroots efforts over the past year, including letters, editorials, public comments and petitions to prevent the sale of Pine Crest.

She said Lincoln County officials believe residents support the sale, and urged attendees and those who oppose the sale to speak up and let their county Supervisors know how they feel.

Todd Frederick, also a member of People for Pine Crest, also criticized the county board’s financial decision-making, highlighting spending on campgrounds and recreation areas instead of prioritizing Pine Crest.

He also said county financial figures on Pine Crest’s repair costs varied wildly, from $8.5 million to $49 million, showing poor financial assessment. He analyzed the last attempted sale and said the deal was financially unsound because the county was set to loan $2 million to the buyer to help purchase it, the land was undervalued at $450.00 per acre, which he said was far below market rates, and the deal would have leased back space to the county in the Health and Human Services building at a high cost to taxpayers.

Pastor Mike Southcombe spoke about the issue in moral and ethical terms, emphasizing the importance of community care for the elderly and recalled historical efforts by communities to care for seniors before Medicaid and Social Security.

Dora Gorski, another member of People for Pine Crest, made a final call for action, urging attendees to contact county supervisors, spread awareness and advocate against the sale.

The group reaffirmed the importance of keeping Pine Crest public, citing higher care standards, financial viability and the moral obligation to care for the elderly.

With the county board expected to discuss Pine Crest’s future in the coming months, as the county has contracted with a broker to facilitate the sale of the nursing home, the battle to keep it under public control is far from over.

In response to a request to People for Pine Crest for copies of the financial reports, documents and other materials referenced during the town hall meeting, Guthrie responded: “The People for Pine Crest have been responding to inquiries and doing follow ups from citizens ... that has taken a good deal of our time. I’m hoping you can write a report on the town hall forum from your notes ... The information you are inquiring about, the financial numbers, came directly from public records and meeting minutes packets.”

“For me the town hall was about much more than just the numbers,” she said. “We wanted to share, educate and energize the citizens of Lincoln County – and we have.”

“The People for Pine Crest have worked hard to find answers, solutions and develop ideas as they relate to Pine Crest,” Guthrie said. “In the process, we have grown our grassroots organization to include communication with four other counties encountering similar obstacles. If we – Lincoln County residents – do not retain ownership and responsibility of Pine Crest, none of the other solutions and ideas can move forward.”