Future of Morris View nursing home under scrutiny

Worried about the increasing burden on taxpayers of maintaining the 283-bed Morris View Healthcare Center, the Morris County freeholders have unanimously directed the county administrator to develop a three-year financial plan that will ensure the facility somehow stays open.

The freeholders in October had hired the Illinois-based firm Institutional Property Advisors (IPA) to conduct an operation and options analysis of the county-run nursing home in Morris Township, which has been harshly impacted by cuts in federal Medicaid reimbursement, as well as the phase-out this year of another source of funding called peer grouping.

IPA's report recently was released by the freeholders and relatives of patients at Morris View, which has a strong advisory committee and history of openness with families, have been showing up at recent freeholder meetings, including Wednesday night, and meeting with Jennifer Carpinteri, director of the county Department of Human Services.

As part of its analysis, IPA examined three options for Morris View's future: maintaining the status quo, meaning the county will continue to operate and pay for the facility; leasing it, meaning the county would retain ownership of the building but sell the beds and health care license to another operator; or sell the entire facility -- the property, beds and license.

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The status quo option, according to IPA's report, means Morris County taxpayers by the year 2020 could be paying a projected $9.8 million to subsidize the nursing home. That projection compares to $7.2 million in taxpayer costs this year. To reduce the tax load and stop paying pension and health insurance costs, the freeholders in past years have outsourced many services at the facility, including dietary, laundry, management, housekeeping, social services, physical therapy and physician services.  Still on the county payroll are administrators, nurses and health care aides.

To operate Morris View this year, the county is expected to receive about $24 million in revenues through Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance and other sources and the taxpayer share would be about $7.2 million to fully fund the projected $31.3 million budget.  By 2020, revenues would essentially remain static but the county's share of a projected $34 million Morris View budget would be $9.8 million by then, the IPA report said.

Intent on keeping the 43-year-old nursing home open and providing quality care, the freeholders Wednesday passed a resolution that directs county Administrator John Bonanni to develop for presentation to the board a three-year Morris View budget "that ensures that the 283 beds remain active and does not in any way compromise the quality of resident care." The resolution is a follow-up to the IPA report that examined financial issues facing the facility but made no recommendations.

Freeholder Director Kathy DeFillippo said the board never wants to see Morris View -- whose patient population is about 75 percent dependent on Medicaid -- close.

"This board is committed to our nursing home," DeFillippo said, but she added that its operation in light of reduced Medicaid reimbursement and loss of peer grouping funds "is a very large strain on our budget."  She said the county does not want to sell the facility that serves the aged and a disabled population in a four-story structure. Peer grouping funds, being phased-out this year, had traditionally been a supplemental source of revenue per Medicaid patient to county-run nursing homes.

Before being appointed county administrator, Bonanni ran the county's human services department. The resolution sets out multiple tasks for Bonanni to perform along with assistance from selected professionals, Morris View's advisory committee and patient family members. Bonanni said he hopes to complete his study and report back to freeholders by the end of the spring or in the early summer.

"The goal will be to get our arms around what the true costs of Morris View will be in the future and there's going to be a constructive dialogue about it," Bonanni said, adding that the reality is, managed Medicaid reimbursement rates are not factors the county can change.

The resolution directs Bonanni and his team to analyze available research on any potential revenues the facility may be able to receive; engage professional staff to meet with the Morris View Healthcare Advisory Committee and family members to collect their thoughts related to any potential outsourcing initiative and identify safeguards that could be enacted if the Morris View operations were turned over to another entity.

Bonanni's team also must visit three other former county-owned nursing homes to review the strengths and changes that occurred through a transition in ownership or management. Bonanni also must explore and report to the freeholders the feasibility of leasing the facility to a provider to manage the 283 resident beds, the resolution said.

In past years, Monmouth, Warren, Camden, Sussex, Salem, Burlington and Cumberland counties have sold their nursing homes.

Without recommending any outcome, the IPA report noted the consequences to the county of maintaining its own nursing home and the continual operating losses.

"While these losses may seem manageable for the county and its residents, they are scheduled to grow precipitously and almost double in just five years, generating projected losses over that five-year period in excess of $41 million," the report said, alluding to the total taxpayer load between 2015 and 2020.

   Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.

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