April 7, 2012
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Opinion
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Viewpoint
News Enterprise Editorial
Horace Nye: It’s time to sell
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he time has come for the Horace Nye Nursing Home in Elizabethtown to no longer be the responsibility of the Essex County taxpayer. The county-owned facility has been operating at a loss for more than the past decade, draining money from the county coffers and adding to a tax levy that is now made tighter by the restriction of the two-percent cap. It is clear that the most appropriate business decision is to cut the county’s losses and get out of the nursing home business, either through the sale of the facility to one of three interested bidders (Centers for Specialty Care out of New York City; Gerald Woods CPA, out of Nassau County; and Elliot Management Group out of Rockland County), or by shutting down the facility entirely. Since 2001, the Horace Nye Nursing Home has been over $21 million in the red, not good for a facility that was set up with the express purpose to make money for the county under an Enterprise Fund. It has not been enterprising at all. Washington County, which is similar in size to Essex, has already made the leap and is currently in negotiations for the sale of both its health care services and the Pleasant Valley Nursing Facility to National Health Care Associates Inc. The firm bid $6.56 million for both county health care packages. In Essex County, the home is the only item on the table, and has received three, matching, $4 million bids. Warren County is also discussing the issue as they face major budget decisions. While $4 million may be nothing compared to the $21 million in losses, at least it is something compared to the tax hole that would be sitting in Elizabethtown if the facility were to close its doors entirely. Don’t think that option is not on the table. County Manager Daniel Palmer has said that if the county continues on its present course with the money the home is hemorrhaging, closure would be a definite option. “It becomes unsustainable and at what point do you decide that you
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are going to stay in the business or completely shut the doors,” he said. With a sale, the county receives at least some financial return. It will also have controls in place over the facility to keep employees in their jobs and keep a percentage of beds reserved for county residents or low-income individuals. That seems a far better option than having no facility at all. We understand that this is a tough, controversial issue and that there are a lot of people who are invested in the outcome. Supervisors, county employees, nurses, staff, patients, seniors and families are all invested in this drama playing out before them. At the same time, it seems the most vocal opponents of the sale have been county employees who fear that privatization could impact their pay and benefits, or, worse — cost them their job altogether. While we cannot blame these employees for voicing those concerns, the supervisors cannot allow that to sway their vote, and we fear further dialogue in settings such as public hearings would be dominated by more of the same. The board of supervisors was elected to look out for county taxpayers as a whole, not a select few — it is time they step up and make the difficult decisions they were elected to make. If it is deemed through studying other private facilities that the quality of care will not suffer and that privatization will save taxpayers millions annually, then the decision is a no-brainer. And, in the final analysis, privatization is a much better option for those same employees and the patients they care for than not having a facility here at all.
This editorial is the collaborative opinion of a board comprised of Thom Randall, Fred Herbst, Keith Lobdell, Stephen Bartlett, Andy Flynn and John Gereau. Comments may be directed to denpubs@denpubs.com.
Layoffs at corporately owned daily newspapers nothing but greed
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a time to hurt those you depend ’ve been accused over time of heavily on like staff, readers and adnot liking daily newspapers vertisers who will be affected by the and being overly bias toward cut backs and then pass out bonuses weekly newspapers. I’ve always and cigars to celebrate your shrewd been quick to point out, however, business ways. that it’s not the newspapers I don’t Interestingly enough, one of the like but rather the corporate culture seminars I attended this weekend in that is killing the sense of communiSaratoga Springs was about the ty these organizations once had. common qualities that exist among When these businesses were cash Dan Alexander successful newspapers. Here is the cows and the money was flowing, it Thoughts from list: was like a big Monopoly game, with Behind the Pressline 1. Loyalty to staff in tough times corporate buy-outs of long standing 2. Constant investment in quality family ownership and then swap3. Regular staff training ping and trading of properties to further enhance 4. Close relationships between management and the corporate grip on a region. staff Last week, while I and many of our editorial 5. Close ties to the community staff members were in Saratoga Springs at the New 6. Quality journalism York Press Association’s Spring Conference, the 7. Investments in technology, equipment and news broke regarding the Lee Enterprise/Postnew publications Star’s move to terminate about 30 percent of its edOur small rural weeklies don’t always get the reitorial staff, primarily in the Washington and spect nor prestige given to the Post-Star or some of Saratoga County areas. More shocking than the the area’s other corporately owned publications, cuts at the Post-Star and the 51 other Lee Enterbut we hope someday to alter that opinion when prise-owned papers who made similar large-scale the community realizes how things are changing. staff cuts across the country, was the announceDuring the last three years while the big guys have ment just days before that Lee CEO Mary Junck been cutting staff and furloughing employees, was awarded a $500,000 bonus and CFO Carl sending core services and jobs like the design of loSchmidt was awarded a $250,000 bonus. cal ads and the layout of the newspaper to distance Call me a crazy fool or completely out of step communities, we and other small, independent lowith capitalism but I see a community’s newspacally-owned publishers have been adding services per as its biggest cheerleader and one of its priand expanding staff with the displaced personnel mary guiding leaders. When times are tough, you cast off by the corporate giants. set some of your own priorities aside and lead Many members of our staff haven’t had raises in through example. It should be in times like these several years but they understand that as an organthat a steady hand on the wheel will set the ecoization we are fighting for our future and the funomic course for a community. A well run, well esture of the people and communities we serve. tablished company, should be positioned to set Maintaining your job and benefits while being foaside its appetite for making lots of money and cused on the future is a simple enough concept to sending it out of the community to its shareholdunderstand, but when greed overrides common ers, while having a long term strategy to recognize sense, that’s also a pretty simple concept that folks there will be time enough for making money when can see right through. During times like these we the economy has been corrected. need less self-serving companies and public serThere is something very wrong when making vants and far more teamwork and a sense of urmoney is your sole motive, over the primary congency to work together to solve the problems faccerns for your community and employees. That is ing our economy. If a community institution, like precisely what I see happening at the corporate your hometown newspaper, isn’t in this for the dailies that largely populate our region. My issue long haul, perhaps it’s time for the community to has never been about the daily newspaper instituseek out a new locally committed institution to tions themselves. It’s always been about the conlead the charge. trolling interests who put up a friendly facade but whose true colors come to light when the going Dan Alexander is publisher and CEO of Denton gets tough. This is a time to stand your ground and Publications. He may be reached at show you are a leader, especially when the health dan@denpubs.com. and welfare of your community is at stake. It’s not
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Denton Publications Founded By Wm. D. Denton PUBLISHER................................................................................................................................................................Daniel E. Alexander ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER................................................................................................................................................................Ed Coats OPERATIONS MANAGER..............................................................................................................................................William Coats BUSINESS OFFICE MANAGER...........................................................................................................................Cheryl Mitchell GENERAL MANAGER CENTRAL.............................................................................................Daniel E. Alexander, Jr. MANAGING EDITOR.............................................................................................................................................................John Gereau ASST. MANAGING EDITOR...............................................................................................................................................Andy Flynn GENERAL MANAGER NORTH.....................................................................................................................Ashley Alexander GENERAL MANAGER SOUTH.....................................................................................................................Scarlette Merfeld HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER.......................................................................................................................Tom Henecker FINANCIAL CONTROLLER..............................................................................................................................................Nicole Pierce
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