MONTICELLO- At their Thursday Health & Human Services Committee Meeting members of the Sullivan County Legislature were read a letter that was penned by dozens of staff members who work at the county’s nursing home, the Care Center at Sunset Lake. The staff who wrote the letter chose to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation and described poor conditions and short staffing levels in the county-owned facility.
In February 2021, Infinite Care Management was selected to operate the nursing home following years of financial trouble that caused the facility to run at a deficit of nearly $1 million per month, according to county officials. The decision to hire an operator was made by members of the former legislature and several members of the current legislature ran on the platform to dismiss Infinite Care from its management responsibilities at the facility and return the care center back to a fully county-operated center.
In the letter to legislators, staff raised concern with staffing levels and indicated that weekends are the worst when it comes to shortages. They also spoke of scheduling confusion stating that some employees would be no call, no show for work and others would be scheduled for work and were unaware they were supposed to report for duty. The staff say these problems have led to gaps in care for the facility’s residents.
The county employees also voiced concern over inequities they view as problematic between the public and private workforce that share the responsibility of operating the facility. Particularly, they point to differences in the management of the two workforces and called on the legislature to intervene.
Finally, the letter expressed concern over the medical care of residents. According to county workers it takes a prolonged period of time to complete diagnostic tests such as x-rays and lab work, which they say should be corrected.
“There are more issues, but we would be here all day,” concluded the letter.
In response Legislator Cat Scott, who also serves as chairwoman of the committee, said that she would like to see a full audit conducted of the facility. Other members of the committee also expressed concern about the facility and further discussion on the matter is anticipated.
