CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The House of Delegates Health and Human Resources Committee has advanced a bill that would close four state-run nursing homes and send the patients to private long-term care facilities.
Under the bill, Hopemont Hospital in Preston County, the John Manchin, Sr. Health Care Center in Fairmont, Lakin Hospital in Mason County and the Jackie Withrow Hospital in Beckley would discontinue operations on Jan. 1, 2022.
The bill, which the committee approved 16-9 and sent to the Finance Committee, cites the age of the buildings, cost of maintenance and payroll as some of the reasons to close the homes.
“The Legislature can no longer ensure that the residents and employees are safe in these facilities,” according to the bill language.
The patients at the long-term care facilities would be transferred to another long-term care facility of their choosing. The state would pay the Medicaid rates to those new homes. Workers at the four homes would be offered transfers within state government or a one-year severance package with their current pay and benefits.
It’s time to make the move, according House Health Committee Chairman Jeff Pack.
“If we don’t make it we’re never going to make it,” Pack, R-Raleigh, told MetroNews Thursday evening. “There have been ideas discussed for years and years about what to do with these facilities. Everyone agrees that these facilities are old and in disrepair and it would be financially prohibitive to build new ones.”
The Manchin facility was built in 1899, Hopemont in 1913, Lakin in 1926 and Withrow in 1927. Each of them have a host of maintenance issues, Pack said.
State DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch told the committee Thursday afternoon the private nursing home sector could take care of the 198 patients that are currently spread over the four homes the state operates.
“The needs of the patients would have to be taken into consideration but most skilled nursing facilities can take care of the patients we have,” Crouch said.
Crouch proposed privatizing the four hospitals during the 2017 legislative session but a bill dealing with only Hopemont passed the House. The Senate killed the bill.
Crouch said closing the four hospitals within the next year would save approximately $15 million in staff costs. It costs the state $10 million for state staff workers and another $5 million for contract workers.
The state estimates it will also save money in Medicaid payments to the private sector homes. The estimated cost is $80,000 annually per patient.
Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, said he wants to make sure the patients are cared for.
“In my opinion it’s the role of government to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves at all, through no fault of their own,” Pushkin said.
He voted against the bill but did credit the Republican majority for working on a compromise concerning the workers at the homes.
Crouch said there would have to be at least some maintenance staff left at the buildings for a while.
“We’d still need to keep those buildings up until we decide what to do with them,” Crouch said.
The state also operates the Welch Hospital, an acute care center and two psychiatric hospitals, Bateman in Huntington and Sharpe in Weston. Those three hospitals are not part of the bill.