To help the county decide the future of its troubled nursing home, a search committee has recommended Center for Governmental Research as the consultant to study the county's options.
County Manager Jay Gsell said CGR was selected because it has no vested interest in the outcome of the research -- it doesn't own, operate, manage or develop nursing homes or assisted-living facilities.
"The committee looked at the eight proposals and felt that CJR was the most neutral," Gsell said.
CGR will be asked to review the total range of options for the nursing home, which Gsell said could result in 10 to 20 possible recommendations. These include, of course, selling it, as well as having it operate under private-benefit corporations, public authority and management firms.
"The list is almost as creative or as plentiful as anybody in New York State would come up with that would be legal," Gsell said.
When asked what his response would be if some people said the county was still primarily focused on divesting itself completely of the nursing home, Gsell that is not even close to true.
"We can’t even, at this point, entertain that notion," Gsell said. "The county legislature is not prepared to make that kind of assessment, and from the legislators I’ve talked to, that’s not even on their radar screen. I can’t say that somebody hasn’t thought about it or that it's not an option somewhere down the road, but we’re not even close to making that kind of recommendation or having any information to say that’s even one of the top recommendations."
As for CJR, it's a non-profit firm based in Rochester. It's "About" page on its Web site says:
George Eastman, the visionary leader who created Eastman Kodak, founded a bureau of municipal research in Rochester, NY in 1915 “to get things done for the community” and to serve as an “independent, non-partisan agency for keeping citizens informed.” Over more than nine decades CGR has grown from a bureau focused on the needs of one city into an organization with far broader reach.
Today, the Legislature's Human Services Committee approved the selection of GCR. The Ways and Means Committee will be asked to review the contract before it goes to the full Legislature for approval.
Previous coverage: Click Here.
