County Committee: Remove Construction of Health Care Center from Capital Improvements for Now
The Portage Co. Health Care Center. (City-Times photo)
By Brandi Makuski
Some officials from Portage Co. say construction plans for a new health care center should be removed from the county’s to-do list until a better breakdown of costs is available.
The Portage County’s Capital Improvements/Economic Development Committee on Monday did not vote on the issue but 4 of the 5 members present- County Board supervisors Don Jankowski, Stan Potocki, Phil Idsvoog and Jim Gifford- unanimously agreed the current plans weren’t feasible.
“The architectural review, the construction- all by 2016, it’s just not doable,” said Supervisor Gifford. “We should keep money in there (the capital improvements plan) for concept work, but take out the money for the actual construction until we actually know what it is.”
Idsvoog, who also serves as County Board Chairman, said the $19 million proposed for a new health care center comes with no breakdown of construction costs or long-term maintenance expense, and points out the county hasn’t yet investigated public-private partnerships to run the health care center.
“I have some real concerns; the last 10 years I’ve been hearing from people the health care center pays for itself- it’s doesn’t. In the last ten years we’ve spent over $16 million subsidizing it with tax levy. This is an enterprise fund, it’s not a mandate- it’s supposed to sustain itself,” he said.
County documents show taxpayer subsidies for the health care center were well over $1 million annually beginning in 2004. The subsidies capped out in 2006, when subsidies reach the $2.3 million mark but have since decreased by $10,000- $200,000 each year. So far taxpayers have subsidized about $935,000 to help fund the center in 2014.
County records also show the existing building, located at the corner of Water Street and Whiting Avenue, needs about $2.4 million in repairs, including new boilers and air conditioning. Last year the county heard a report from Schenck Health Service Solutions, an Appleton- based CPA and business consulting firm which gave estimates on the three options for the building- remodeling the current structure, building a new 80- bed facility and constructing a new 100- bed center. The firm’s CPA Mark Knuth told county leaders last December the current facility wasn’t efficient or friendly for dementia patients given its linear layout.
“You’re also not set up to handle a spike in the county’s baby boomer population- who will begin to need specialized care within the next 10-15 years,” Knuth told county leaders in December.
County Executive Patty Dreier placed the construction project for the new 100-bed facility within the county’s capital improvement plan for 2015-2020, which was presented to the board in early July. The county, she said, is required to pay annual state fees for each licensed bed even if it’s not occupied, and while the county is currently licensed for 100 beds occupancy rates fluctuate throughout the year, averaging about 80 percent.
The new health care center is one of nearly 60 projects totaling more than $63 million, some of which has already funded, through 2020. The committee plans to vote on the capital improvements on August 4 before sending recommendations to the full County Board in mid-August.