The Lions Center for Rehabilitation and Extended Care could be
moving to the proposed development at Cumberland Chase along McMullen Highway
near Rawlings. Board member Ed Crossland says they will continue to service
their existing patients at the 101 bed facility and there would be no change
until at least 2022. He says the board will continue to play a role in the
future facility. According to a press release for several years the Board of
Directors (the “Board”) for the Lions Center for Rehabilitation and Extended
Care, Inc. (“Lions”), has struggled with a substantial increase in regulations
on nursing homes, decreased Medicare payments and private pay clients, and an
ever-increasing cost of operations. While currently able to maintain the existing
facility, the Board’s ability to make long-term plans has become increasingly
difficult. As a non-profit nursing home, Lions is not alone in this situation.
Over the past decade, decreased profits has resulted in a rapid consolidation
and privatization within the nursing home industry. Lions remains one of few
stand-alone, non-profit nursing homes.
Lions was founded in the late 1960’s as a 501(c)(3) charity by a dedicated
group of community leaders to serve the aging population of Allegany County. At
the time, the only other major facility was the County Nursing Home.
Lions’ aging facility on Haystack Mountain needs to be replaced. Feasibility
studies have demonstrated that current cashflow projections would not likely
cover the cost of a new facility, and have made clear that obtaining financing
as a non-profit with our business model will prove extremely difficult.
Moreover, maintenance of the existing facility is an ever-increasing challenge
with its obsolete infrastructure, equipment, and with limited space to expand.
All of this is made more difficult by the increasingly complicated regulatory
framework in which our small administrative staff must operate.
The Board at Lions is a volunteer board comprised of County civic, business and
community leaders. Federal regulations that prove challenging to our staff will
soon place additional burdens on the Lions Board. Those regulations now appear
to impose potential liability risks to the individual Board members, which will
likely have an adverse impact on the recruitment and retention of qualified
Board members to operate the multi-million-dollar facility.
The Board has explored all relevant potential options concerning the future of
Lions and has concluded that, while there is a definite need for us to continue
to seek to provide the best possible care for our citizens in their later
years, it is not feasible nor is it practical to continue to operate a small,
stand-alone non-profit nursing home.
To hear the interview with Crossland log on to https://soundcloud.com/amanda-mangan/ed-crossland-lions-centerfor-pht