Butler commissioners approve sale of county-owned nursing home
Butler County shed its money-losing nursing home on Wednesday, accepting a $20.4 million purchase offer from a New Jersey company that will operate Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center as a for-profit entity.
“Sunnyview already has a wonderful reputation, and we hope we can live up to that reputation,” said Bruce Peckman, managing partner with Investment 360 of Lakewood, N.J.
The sale will close when Investment 360 obtains a state permit to operate the 220-bed facility, county officials said, which could take several weeks. Until then, the county will run Sunnyview, though the new owners will talk with employees to ensure an orderly transition.
“We want to get a feel for the people who work there, their opinion on what we need to do,” Peckman said.
The company is not looking to make mass layoffs or salary cuts but will change employee benefits, he said. It won't ask patients to leave or pay sharp increases in fees. “We fight to get Medicaid for people,” Peckman said. “We don't abandon people here.”
The company operates 17 nursing facilities, mostly in the East.
The county set a minimum bid of $13.5 million. The firm was the highest of eight bidders.
Sunnyview lost about $1 million in 2013 and is expected to lose the same amount in 2014, officials have said.
“The time has arrived when small nursing homes can't exist,” Commission Chairman Bill McCarrier said. He and fellow Republican Commissioner A. Dale Pinkerton approved the sale; minority Democratic Commissioner Jim Eckstein voted against it.
“Once gone, it will never be back,” Eckstein said, though he praised Investment 360 as the best among the bidders.
McCarrier said the decision to sell wasn't just an economic one; Investment 360 has “more expertise” in providing health care.
Butler is the latest county to sell its nursing home.
Beaver County closed on a sale of its 580-bed facility to Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services LLC for $37.5 million on March 1. Cambria County sold its nursing home in 2010.
Westmoreland County commissioners have said they will not sell Westmoreland Manor, a 403-bed home, which is losing about $1.3 million annually.
The Butler County nursing home traces its roots to 1900. Employees asked the commissioners not to sell, saying they could offer concessions to cut the deficit.
The union representing many of Sunnyview's 200 employees expects to begin contract negotiations with the new owners the first week of April, said Matt Yarnell, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania.
“Our mission is to get the best contract we can that allows us to continue the best quality services we provide,” Yarnell said.
The Department of Public Health will consider several factors in deciding whether to grant Investment 360 a license, including its history, business structure and the services and charity care it will provide.
The company will need approval from the Department of Public Welfare if it wants to add Medicaid beds, health department spokeswoman Holli Senior said.
Bill Vidonic is a Trib Total Media staff writer. He can be reached at 412-380-5621 or bvidonic@tribweb.com.
