Sidney Nursing Facility to Close

A Sidney skilled nursing center is being closed by the state. Residents and staff of Sidney Care and Rehabilitation Center were informed of the decision Wednesday by Ken Klassmeyer of Klassmeyer and Associates, the company that has been managing the center since last March.

That was when a Lancaster County Judge placed the center, and 20 others into receivership when the company, Cottonwood Healthcare, also known as Skyline, headquartered in New Jersey, could not make its payroll.

In making the closure announcement Wednesday, Klassmeyer said the Sidney facility has been unable to become financially viable.

"They have to be able to run off their own finances," Klassmeyer said. "And this facility keeps losing money."

The closure affects 27 residents of the skilled nursing center, and seven in assisted living. The Sun-Telegraph has been unable to confirm the number of employees affected.

The Sidney facility is one of three in the original group of 21 that is being closed due to continued financial hardship. Klassmeyer said when facilities are placed into receivership, essentially outside management, it is for a one-year period. Those three, including one in Wausau and another in Omaha, are the only closures at this time.

The announcement comes before that year is over because it doesn't appear there will be a turn around, and under federal law employees are given 60 days notice prior to the closure. Klassmeyer said the facility will be closed by March 15.

During the past year, Klassmeyer and Associates has worked with the facility to improve efficiency, but Klassmeyer said part of the problem has been continued low census, the number of patients within the facility. Sidney's census is below 50 percent at the time of the announcement. The skilled facility is licensed for 41 patients and 16 on the assisted living side.

Attempts to sell or find other management have been unsuccessful. The building is still owned by the Golden Living Center group, which ran the facility prior to Skyline.

Klassmeyer and Associates will continue to assist residents and their families as they try to find other homes. The company will help facilitate transfers of patients and medical records. It is also required to report its progress to the state.

"Moving a resident is very traumatic on them," Klassmeyer said. "And we are going to try our best to help it go as well as possible."