As the battle to save our county nursing home, Valley View, moves forward, those looking to sell the facility may continue using scare tactics to get their way. Fortunately for the people of Orange County, the Final Report from the Special Investigative Committee on Valley View has shed light on the true situation at our facility.
The bipartisan Special Investigative Committee, on which I proudly served, instructed our law firm, Jacobowitz and Gubits, to write a Final Report with no opinions or conclusions from any committee legislator. The Executive Summary condenses into seven main points the findings derived from dozens of hours of hearings with 27 witnesses testifying under sworn oath, including two outside nursing home administrators and five accountants, Here are those Executive Summary findings, verbatim:
1. Dedicated staff who appear to have adjusted to "doing more with less"
2. OAS employees and County Commissioners did not testify, but financial reporting was based upon Valley View accountants' reports and testimony
3. Taxpayer subsidy less than reported deficit
3a. No risk of bankruptcy from operations of Valley View
4. Management deficiencies, along with the lack of any county corrective measures taken at executive level, at root of problems.
5. If sold and privatized, ongoing health-care legacy costs of at least $5 million per year will continue to be paid by the county. In addition, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, accrued benefits and bonded indebtedness will have to be paid.
6. If Valley View is kept by the county, conditions can be changed to reduce taxpayer subsidy to less than $6 million per year rather than the $20 million-$30 million publicly stated.
7. There are a number of areas in which internal changes could be made, if county elected officials are willing to become more aggressive in endorsing and actively supporting a willingness to make changes that would help make Valley View more cost-effective, while maintaining high-quality standards.
To me, moving forward, we must follow points four and seven. The management firm at Valley View, OAS, whom the executive hired 10 years ago, and whose contract he has renewed four different times, needs to go! The Legislature has instructed our executive not to renew that contract, which expires at the end of this year, and to look for a new administrator to help better run the facility. What will the executive do?
The report shows, if the facility is sold or closed, the county taxpayers will continue paying "at least $5 million per year" for decades to come. If, on the other hand, we kept Valley View, got rid of OAS, and installed more competent administration, we could "reduce taxpayer subsidy to less than $6 million per year." Let's weigh those numbers for a minute. On the one hand, we pay $5 million per year if we sell or close Valley View; on the other hand, we pay $6 million or less if we keep it and run it the right way. I, for one, think that out of a county budget of over $700 million per year, our seniors are worth that extra $1 million!
The executive's scare tactics of huge tax increases, county bankruptcy, or massive layoffs of other county workers, if Valley View is kept, need to end, also. First, his mind-set should change about Valley View. Next, he should get rid of OAS. Finally, he should fully fund Valley View going forward in his 2013 county budget, as he is mandated to do by county charter for every county department we own.
Mike Anagnostakis is the Orange County legislator for the towns of Montgomery and Newburgh.