County applauds Maple Lawn financial plan
BRANCH COUNTY — Maple Lawn Director Jayne Sabaitis gave county commissioners her long-term plan for ending the county nursing home financial crisis Thursday, a month after receiving a $250,000 county loan.
The plan calls for cutting costs and increasing the maximum number of patients the facility can accommodate while making capital improvements.
Commission Chair Tim Stoll told her, “I just like to say Jayne, I think that’s a great plan. Nice work on putting that together.”
Stoll is the director of the not-for-profit Thurston Wood nursing facility in Sturgis.
The county requested quarterly reports and a long-term plan as part of the loan.
The county and Maple Lawn expect federal COVID-19 funds to solve most financial problems.
Maple Lawn found out the county-owned facility was eligible for COVID-19 relief funds last summer. Maple Lawn then requested $3.6 million in Employee Retention Credits from the government.
Sabaitis said, “We have contacted (Congressman Tim) Wahlberg’s office and are working with them. Last I heard from them, we should be receiving a letter from the IRS, indicating we’re not eligible. But it’s based on our tax ID number being the same as the county’s tax ID number.”
As a county-owned facility, it uses the county federal tax identification number.
Accountants Plant and Moran said the facility is eligible and will appeal the IRS decision. “They have had success with other county medical care facilities who have the same situation,” Sabaitis told commissioners.
The financial crisis for Maple Lawn came last August after the state required payback of $874,976 from three years of Medicaid overpayments to Maple Lawn made during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sabaitis will make the final repayment to the state this month.
Returning the money created a cash flow issue as the patient census dropped over the pandemic.
The client count has risen over the past few months. The census is now approaching 101.
Sabaitis said, “We plan to keep moving forward to full capacity” for 114 patients next month.
A significant issue is staffing with turnover and increasing the number of certified nursing assistants.
Maple Lawn paid community colleges to train applicants. Some are in training now.
“We are now going to do CNA online. The state did a review of our lab classroom last Thursday and approved that,” Sabaitis told commissioners. In-house online training should start July 1. “That will save significant funds for classes and training.”
Michigan increased Medicaid reimbursement by 2% since January, about a $50,000 increase.
The reconciliation of local costs and state payments is also due. “We are owed approximately $53,000 from the state and should be receiving that on June 15,” Sabaitis said.
The director and staff made changes that reduced operating costs since last fall. The report stated that the facility continues to look for areas for reductions without hurting patients’ care.
Prior story County approves Maple Lawn loan with conditions
Sabaitis laid out capital needs for the facility, with major repairs and replacements needed for the heating and cooling systems and in the kitchen, where aging equipment needs to be replaced.
The director said the ERC money could be used when received.
Commissioner Tom Matthew suggested Maple Lawn’s needs be added to requests for American Recuse Plan Act expenditures now under consideration by commissioners.
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There already are requests for $11.5 million but the county only received $7.2 million in ARPA money.
---Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: County applauds Maple Lawn financial plan
