MONTICELLO – As the new Legislature takes on pending concerns left by the previous board, discussions were brought up during committee meetings on Thursday, January 18, about the Adult Care Center (ACC) at Sunset Lake.

The first discussions on the Adult Care Center occurred during the Human Resources Committee, which newcomer District 8 Legislator Amanda Ward chairs. With Human Resources Commissioner Julie Diescher giving her monthly report, she talked about the implementation of referral programs for the Care Center and their “struggle in getting applicants.” 

District 7 Legislator Joe Perrello then asked Diescher how the Care Center is doing with employees, to which the HR Commissioner responded that there is still a lot of Infinite Care staff, and they are still trying to find the right balance between them and the ACC employees. She also said that they have still been getting some applicants and recruiting people through the referral program. 

“I think one of the problems is the fact that people are not certain what is happening with that facility,” said District 5 Legislator Cat Scott. 

Perrello retorted to Scott’s comment as he said that there isn’t a problem that the county is having with the Care Center, just that the wrong perception got out about what’s going on. 

“We should put some kind of newsletter out there that we are not closing the facility,” Perello said, “and that we are trying to make it better than it was and that we have jobs available.”

Lou Setran, a resident of the Town of Callicoon, agreed with the Vice Chair of the Legislature’s thoughts on changing the public opinion on the Care Center. During public comment, Setran referenced that in 2018, the ACC was rated as a 5-star facility on medicare.gov, when it was strictly a county-run facility. 

“There was a legislature here during that period and there were other, unelected officials, who were committed to supporting the facility and making it the best that it could be,” Setran said. “Amongst those supports was renovating the facility.” 

Setran also referenced that seven years ago, there was a marketing and outreach coordinator employed by the ACC who would attend meetings across the county to “sing the virtues” of the services offered at the facility. Setran also said this individual would make connections with those in the community who may need the services provided at the facility.

Setran said that shortly after that employee retired, the proverbial wheels of the facility began to fall off. 

“I never come up here to bash the facility or to bash the staff that work at the facility,” he said. “I understand that we have to work from where we are. We need to pick up the pieces and move forward. We need to make that facility the best it can be.”

Issue on wages

“People are uncertain about anything, whether it was publicized or not,” County Manager Josh Potosek said. “They just don’t know. So there is a general lack of understanding from the general public.”

Potosek said that the bigger issue, which he said was privately discussed in the previous Legislature, is that they attempted to “fragment the teamster employees in the nursing home to negotiate higher rates there.” But he said that their request was declined, so they are “stuck with depressed wages” compared to what the private sector has done recently, post Covid-19. 

“So when you see why people are moving over, it’s because they are making higher hourly wages working for the staffing agencies,” Potosek said. “The uncertainty is a factor, but when you couple that with wages — if they can make a couple of extra bucks more going to Achieve [Rehab and Nursing Facility in Liberty], that’s what they’re going to do.”

Perrello recommended that the Legislature go into executive session following the committee meetings to discuss the wages at the nursing home. Potosek said that they could do that as it is a collective bargaining issue. Thus, the board agreed to go into executive session to discuss the issue further following the meetings. 

More on the staffing 

and reporting issues

Diescher said that some staff want to stay employed with the county and some of them are close to retirement, putting the Care Center in a bigger bind. 

“Josh [Potosek], Michelle [Huck] and I have been working with those particular folks and making sure there are other opportunities in the county that they may be eligible for,” Diescher said. 

Setran noted that it was put on paper in the consulting papers filed by previous employees of the facility that the ACC would “make every effort to make sure that the employees at the facility who are enrolled in the New York State and Local Retirement System to remain in that system. 

“They knew at the time, that would not be possible if a private entity were to move into this facility,” Setran said.

Legislator Scott also later said in the Health and Human Services Committee meeting, that she requested someone from the ACC to be at the legislature meeting on Thursday to provide context to their reporting. She said that her request was denied. Scott said that she hopes the Legislature can talk to the Care Center regarding improving their reporting. 

A meeting of the Sunset Lake Local Development Corporation (LDC) will be held on Thursday, January 25 at noon at the Legislative Hearing Room in the Sullivan County Government Center following the full board meeting at 10:00 a.m.

Scott also referenced that on the last page of the January report of the Division of Health and Human Services, provided by Commissioner John Liddle, there are no employment numbers for the Care Center. 

“I think that might be helpful if we can see how many positions are not currently filled,” said Scott. “So that way, we can determine some of the things that are happening in that facility, especially since they are currently operating under the county’s certificate of need.”