Townhall draws 150 to elder care discussion

By Becky Uehling

Grant Tribune-Sentinel

 More than 150 people showed up to a town hall meeting Thursday, June 9, at the Grant United Methodist Church to show support for, and to hear options about, a potential path forward for continued elder care in Perkins County. 

“What you being here means is hope” said Mark Bottom, organizer of the meeting, who has taken the lead in the community to pursue options to maintain elder care in the county after the Perkins County Health Services Board of Directors voted May 16 to not renew the license of its nursing home, Golden Ours, with its final license set to expire on July 15.

During the meeting, Tim Groshans, owner of Senior Insight LLC out of Burwell, an elder care management  company, was on hand to give insight into what options are available going forward. Groshans is also a former resident of Grant, and began his career in elder care at Golden Ours.

During the meeting, Groshans was critical towards the hospital board and the administration on how the closing process of Golden Ours was handled. He stated that the procedure would have been smoother if started earlier and with outside consultation from an organization like his own. 

Although somewhat tense, the meeting remained civil, with only a few questions being directed towards the PC Hospital Board’s handling of the closure, with Bottom redirecting the crowd to look forward and not backwards.

Experience

Groshans has more than 30 years of experience in running elder care facilities, both for-profit and non-profit, in the State of Nebraska. According to him, it is not ideal for hospitals to run elder care facilities, but better for such facilities to be separate entities. 

Also speaking during the evening were Bottom and his wife, Renae, along with Chris and Steve Loeffler. A group  with Mark Bottom, including Loefflers and Genie Bishop—it was revealed during the meeting—have created an LLC in hopes to acquire the licenses that had been used for Golden Ours from the Perkins County Hospital Board before the date the licenses are set to expire on July 15. They are partnering with Groshans to advise them in the process.

Bottom explained to the crowd that if the licenses are not transferred to a different entity by the deadline, the licenses will become “idle” or “blink out”, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. This means that the county would never again be able to acquire licenses to build an elder care facility in the county, he said. 

“We have been working very hard behind the scenes with the hospital, and we have made good headway. But nothing has been settled yet,” Bottom said. 

At press-time on Tuesday, the PC Hospital Board of Directors had set a special meeting for Friday, June 17, at 12 noon in the Hospital Board Room to continue discussions with the members of the newly formed LLC, according to Neil Hilton, CEO of PC Health Services. 

“The agenda has not been set yet, and I can not speak for the board, but I can say that their intention for the meeting is to continue to work with the LLC,” Hilton said. “The agenda will be made available at the front of the hospital before the meeting,” he said. 

After the town hall meeting, attendants were asked to fill out a questionnaire to express in what ways they would be will to support elder care in Perkins County. Options included giving time for fund raising, donating funds, donating volunteer time, among other options. Bottom said anyone who was not at the meeting, but who would still like to be included in supporting elder care in the county, are encouraged to contact him, or continue following developments in the paper as they unfold.