County announces committees to study nursing home issue

Press release:

The Genesee County Legislature, working with its consulting attorneys for long-term care planning -- Bond, Schoeneck & King -- is continuing a process of due diligence regarding the future of the Genesee County Nursing Home. This review has been made necessary by changes made by New York State in the long-term care fiscal and programmatic environment. Most critically, New York State is mandating that long-term care facilities begin moving to a managed care model.

The legislature has established three committees to keep moving the analysis and option review process forward expeditiously. They are comprised of members of the County Legislature and select administrative and community stakeholders on an “as needed basis."

The Long Term Care Sustainability Committee will be comprised initially of Raymond Cianfrini, Robert Bausch and Marianne Clattenburg; the Operations/Redesign Committee includes Annie Lawrence, Edward DeJaneiro and Gregg Torrey; The Community Engagement/Education Committees core members are Rochelle Stein, Frank Ferrando and Andrew Young. The overall focus is on the future role of the County’s 240 bed facility/services and to preserve the continuity, quality and accessibility to long-term care in Genesee County.

With the advent of mandatory Managed Care, New York State Department of Health has imposed fiscal constraints on all long-term care providers across the State, including regional reimbursement-rate formulas and the predominance of Medicaid as the principle revenue source for most New York State-based nursing homes. Time is of the essence to develop and articulate a strategy in 2014 which the Genesee County Legislature is pursuing posthaste.

In announcing the appointments and the start of the committee process, newly elected Chairman of the Genesee County Legislature Raymond F. Cianfrini stated: “Once again, changes made in Albany dictate that our county government work diligently to protect our taxpayers while insuring the availability of critical services to our community. Our charge to these committees and our consultants is that we devise a plan to insure that quality long-term care continue to be available and accessible in our community.”