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Commissioners Receive Bids But Postpone Decision on Health Center Sale

by David Croyle

Armstrong County Commissioners received bids on Thursday morning in their continuing quest to sell the Health Center; however, no action was taken.

There were 13 interested parties that requested financial information. They all signed confidentiality agreements that they would not release the information to anyone else.

Only two firms of the 13 parties submitted bids.

Premier Healthcare from Philadelphia submitted a bid of $5.75 million.

Center Management Group from Inwood, New York submitted a bid of $5.60 million.

Another bid was received from Comprehensive Healthcare, but was not opened because it was received past the deadline.

Commissioners tabled further action pending a future review.
Commissioners emphasized that they will be selecting a group of “knowledgeable individuals” to review each firm for compliance to the terms of the request for proposal.

The commissioners would not commit to a time table when the group will be appointed or when a final decision will be made.

Caregivers at the Armstrong County Health Center are
standing in opposition to the privatization bids for their facility.

“We’re very concerned that the quality care we provide our residents will be at risk if the County accepts one of these privatization bids,” said Jackie Kamer, an environmental services employee and union chapter President. “We understand the financial situation that the county is in,
and we think that the way forward is for employees and the county to work together and make the changes we need, not to sell the home to a for-profit company. We need to keep it rooted in the community.”

In recent years, county nursing homes been privatized elsewhere in Pennsylvania, including Butler, Beaver, and Blair Counties. SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania members in those facilities saw decreases in staffing per resident and increases in staff turnover after those purchases.

There were two representatives from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) that represent Health Center employees that attended the bid opening.

Kristy Myers, Chief Negotiator, and Sharon Pope presented a letter to commissioners from CNA Marcia Glunt, a certified nursing assistant in Altoona. The letter told of her experience when Valley View, Blair County’s nursing home was purchased by Reliant Senior Care in 2014.

“When they purchased the home from the county, they told us that they would keep all staff, but soon afterward they downsized,” she wrote. “That led to a drastic reduction in staffing which made it harder to provide high quality care.”

The current contract with the SEIU expires in just 57 days. Pope said negotiations will continue for a new contract on behalf of union staff at the Health Center.

Health Center Administrator Tom Parsons said even though the Health Center budget does not impact county general fund, it is in the black.

Local News | David Croyle November 5, 2016

3 Comments

By Watchingfromadistance, November 3, 2016 @ 3:50 PM

Unload it, then put the Belmont on the block next!
By Rainbow Rider, November 3, 2016 @ 6:30 PM

Kind of surprised at how high the bids are. What value do these out of the area people see in that building, property and business that some of us don’t? Also, a little surprised that no locals like sugar Creek Rest or Concordia didn’t bid. It’ll be interesting to see how this ends up, but my guess is the commissioners will take the money and not look back.
For better or worse.
By jorn jensen, November 4, 2016 @ 6:59 AM

So, if Comprehensive Healthcare was the highest bid, we’ll never know because of a deadline rule. Government at work.

The proper decision is to postpone the decision and get the process organized, including answering the questions of other potential bidders. ………….and give it time, the necessary time to do it properly.