Eich on Centre Crest

  Centre Crest is an integral part of the services Centre County Government provides to the county’s most vulnerable residents.  Its residents are our family members, neighbors, and friends.  As one of the few nursing homes in Centre County that accepts residents regardless of their ability to pay, it is critical that Centre Crest remain a component of Centre County Government.

  The staff at Centre Crest is dedicated to providing high quality care to the residents they serve.  Many full time employees have decades of service in jobs that are among the most difficult in County Government.  The Exarchos-Dershem board alienated the staff at Centre Crest early in their term by planning to arbitrarily change the terms of employment.  The result was that most of the 300 employees became members of AFSCME – a move they felt was necessary to protect the pay and benefits they had earned.

  Dershem & Exarchos also voted to replace an administrator who reported directly to the Commissioners with an administrator hired by a consulting firm.  After two tries, the commissioners restored the administrator’s position to one that is hired by the county and reports to the Commissioners.

Management Changes
Each Board of Commissioners needs to assure that Centre Crest has the staff and the tools needed be efficient and to provide quality care to the residents.

• It’s time to end the contract with Premier and reinvest the $150,000 that would go to this company in the operation of Centre Crest.

• The food budget at Centre Crest needs to assure there is an appropriate variety of appetizing meals that meet the nutritional and dietary needs of the residents.  For two years in a row, the current Commissioners cut the food budget.  It made sense in 2006 – Centre Crest was no longer feeding inmates at the County Prison.  But in 2007, Exarchos and Dershem cut the 2007 food budget by $90,000 (15% or $1 per day per resident).  The results have not been good.  A Centre Crest family member said they noticed a significant decline in menu choices.  As a result, they have started bringing food into Centre Crest for their family member.

• Another Centre Crest family recently commented about the lack of mobile patient lifts used to transfer residents from their bed to their wheel chair (for example).  There needs to be a sufficient number of these lifts (with a charged battery) in Centre Crest so that the staff isn't forced to waste time searching for, and then waiting for, a lift that functions.

• And perhaps most important, Centre Crest needs to secure sufficient staff to minimize overtime.  Centre Crest has struggled to become fully staffed.  The 2007 budget had 28 vacant nursing positions. As a result, nursing overtime totaled $490,000.  The last year I served as county administrator, there were only 13 vacant nursing positions, which resulted in significantly lower overtime costs.  Vacant positions must be filled to avoid burnout that leads to turnover and threatens the quality of patient care.

• So-called "permanent part-time" positions need to be evaluated to determine if combining several part-time positions into a single full-time position can improve the quality of care for residents,  reduce employee turnover, and reduce hiring costs that include advertising, mandatory background checks, and training.

Centre Crest Finances

When the current Board took office, there was a Centre Crest reserve that contained $4.4 million.  The County had an Unreserved/Undesignated Fund that totaled $7.9 million.  Recently, Commissioner Exarchos criticized previous boards for shifting surplus funds from Centre Crest to the General fund.  It is ironic that Exarchos is challenging the reallocation of surplus funds in 2007.

• In 2003, the Exarchos campaign theme was that previous boards spent too much.  Here we are in 2007 at the end of his term.  He lost in the primary.  The policies he implemented got him kicked out.  So now he is alleging that it's not his fault -- previous boards spent too little.  He can't have it both ways.  That's scapegoating.

• Past Boards did invest in Centre Crest.

 • Long before I moved to the Commissioners Office, the County invested $8 million in renovating and expanding Centre Crest.  That was 1993.  The annual payment on the bonds for that project was set at $670,000(+/-) a year thru the year 2018.  The transfers from the Centre Crest surplus, in essence, were payments to the general fund that minimized taxes, while the debt millage paid for capital improvements.

 • The Board that I worked for upgraded the nurse call system, upgraded the lighting system in patient rooms, replaced the HVAC units in each room, and replaced or repaired numerous small pieces of equipment.

• The current board has transferred of surplus funds.  The millage rate for debt was set at 1.5 mils when the current board took office.  It currently is 1.19 mils.  The board diverted about $480,000 (0.16 mils) in 2005, $630,000 (0.21 mils) in 2006, and $941,000 (0.31 mils) in 2007.  The board used these transfers to offset increased expenses.  Why is it okay for this board to reallocate excess revenues, but not for previous boards to do so?

• Centre County currently has $8.4 million in its Unreserved/Undesignated Fund (CDT, 6/6/07).  If Chris and Steve TRULY believe that surplus funds from the Centre Crest reserve should not have been used for other purposes, they can restore those funds from the county surplus, without cutting any programs.  They could have done it at any time in 2004, or in 2005, or in 2006, or AT THEIR NEXT MEETING.  Why are they making an issue of it now?