Proponents of the Albany County Nursing Home and Department for Aging crowded a public hearing before the County Legislature to protest a 2013 budget plan that would bring landmark changes to one or both programs.
The complaints brought to the Legislature Tuesday, Oct. 23, were leveled at County Executive Dan McCoy’s proposed $568 million 2013 budget, which would raise taxes almost 9 percent. The budget includes a plan to privatize the nursing home and many cuts to the Department for Aging.
McCoy’s plan is to lease the nursing home to Upstate Services Groups, a private firm, for 10 years, which will save the county up to $70 million. The government operates the nursing home at a loss. However, citizens and nursing home workers said they are worried privatization would bring with it poor conditions for residents of the 250-bed facility.
Kenny Barnes, who ran for a seat on the Legislature a few terms ago, said at the public hearing one of his main concerns while running for the seat was the Albany County Nursing Home.
Barnes said he was concerned about the treatment under a privatized nursing. His father was at the nursing home for Alzheimer’s treatment and said the facility should be kept “for the people.”
“They had great service there … very nice. I saw how (seniors) were treated there. What worries me is that any time there’s a business that’s trying to make money … money is the top dollar,” Barnes said. “Money is the main concern. All I’m saying is we should really look at this a lot more seriously.”
Andrew Hubalek, director of social work at the Albany County Nursing Home, asked the 39 legislators to question what they “really know about this company.” He said he conducted his own research on Upstate Services Groups and found numerous reports online of neglect and reports of mistreatment of residents at other facilities.
“These kinds of reports make me nervous, a facility getting cited for not being thorough when investigating alleged abuses,” Hubalek said. “Take the time to talk to other community health care providers that interact with this company. Six to eight weeks is not enough time to make this decision. … Is this truly about the residents?”
Upstate Services runs the Hudson Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in the City of Albany.
Others spoke out at the hearing wondering if the facility’s workers will be able to keep their jobs if the nursing home is privatized.
Representatives from the Albany County Department for Aging also expressed their concerns about possible budget cuts. In addition to reductions on the table, McCoy has said if the budget with its tax hike and privatization plan does not pass, many programs including the Department for Aging might have to be eliminated altogether.
Lettie Saheim, president of the board of the Cohoes Senior Center, said in the 10 years she’s voluntarily been on the board, she’s noticed a decrease in senior support from the county. The Cohoes Senior Center provides several outlets to help the community’s seniors, including transportation from their homes to events and doctor’s appointments.
“Most of the centers are struggling to exist,” Saheim said. “We are having fundraisers just to pay for our van for transportation. It’s just getting harder and harder to provide full services for our seniors in need.”
Keith Hornbrook, executive director of the Cohoes Multi-Service Senior Citizens Center, Inc., said they created a petition asking people to sign against cuts and keep funding for senior programming.
“We are 20 percent of the population and receive less than 1 percent of the budget to support services,” Hornbrook said. “All of our organizations have made adjustments to compensate for or absorb these losses. We’ve reached (the) point where more adjustments compromise the fabric of the network of providers who deliver these vital services to seniors in our community.”
The Legislature must adopt a budget in December.