Portage County officials are uncertain whether contributing $10 million towards a public-private partnership for a health care continuum is right for the county at this time.

The Capital Improvements/Economic Development Committee spent the majority of its 50-minute meeting Tuesday, July 12, asking questions and voicing concerns about details of the concept, and whether now was the time to include it in the five-year Capital Improvements Plan (CIP).

“I’ve always felt the real need for the county home is to care for those who really can’t care for themselves,” Committee member Jim Gifford said. “Our first role is not to pay luxury accommodations for those who can afford it, but (to help those who can’t).

“I don’t say it’s a bad plan,” he said, “but we need answers. We need further details before we can commit to this.”

The public-private venture would be with the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis (SSJ-TOSF), Milwaukee Catholic Home (MCH) of Milwaukee and Presbyterian Home & Services (PHS) of St. Paul, Minn. The new nonprofit senior care campus would be called Joseph’s Pine Grove Inc. and would be located on the 40 acres owned by the Sisters on Maria Drive.

The committee will meet again Aug. 1 following the Finance Committee meeting to discuss all of the proposed CIP projects, including $5.2 million in 2017 for the new Government Center, and repairing and updating projects in the County-City Building. If needed, the committee will meet for a fourth time prior to bringing CIP recommendations before the County Board of Supervisors Aug. 16.

The partnership proposal includes constructing a $45 million to $50 million campus that includes senior living apartments, assisted living units, memory care assisted living units and up to 70 beds for the new health care center.

The county’s $10 million contribution would go toward the estimated $15 million cost for constructing the new Health Care Center.

“The Sisters are developing this 21st Century, Senior Living Community as a new mission offering to serve Portage County citizens for the next 100 years,” Sister Judy Jewison said Wednesday, July 13. “If Portage County is not able to work with the SSJ-TOSF’s project, a skilled care component will not be included.”

The 70-bed number for the new nursing home as well as to whom those beds would go is of concern. Residents and committee members said they have been hearing that the Sisters would get priority for the beds, which in essence could bump county residents.

After all of their work and the history of the Sisters’ in the county, they deserve and rightfully should be cared for, Stevens Point resident Mary Ann Laszewski said, “but I just don’t think it can be at the expense of our county residents … the future of county residents can only be guaranteed if the county stays in the Health Care business.”

Jewison said there was no quid pro quo for the Sisters who are providing land for the project. “The Sisters will have the same opportunity to apply and pay the same rental fees as any other Portage County resident,” Jewison said.

Residents still want more guarantees.

“I think we need a lot more information,” Laszewski said. “I think we need to slow down.”

Portage County has been looking at the future of the Health Care Center for more than two years. In 2014, the CIP Committee rejected a $19 million proposal to build a new Health Care Center. That same year, the County Board approved working with the Sisters to explore a continuum of care due to continued rising costs to operate the county-owned Health Care Center and increasing fiscal constraints on county government.

The partnership was first presented to the county and the public at the June 29 Health Care Committee meeting. County Executive Patty Dreier said she would place the $10 million proposed contribution in the CIP to hold a space while the details could be worked out.

In the past 10 years, the county has levied about $15 million to taxpayers to pay for operating the Health Care Center. County officials have said the county cannot continue to fund the home, and it is not a mandated program.

Various options have been explored to continue operation of the nursing home, including selling to another business and entering into a partnership.

Rather than contribute the $10 million up front, Gifford suggested looking at offering $1.5 million a year – the approximate amount annually the county historically spends on the Health Care Center – until it is paid.

Questions about how the new nonprofit would help support care for those who cannot afford it, the number of designated beds, the county’s lack of control in operating and managing the new home, and how the Sisters are and will be involved need answers before moving forward, residents said.

“We all know the road to Hell was paved with good intentions,” said Reid Rocheleau, village of Whiting resident. “You get promises, not intentions. You get guarantees, not promises.”

He also suggested the county go to referendum for the Health Care Center and the $78 million Government Center and let county residents decide.

“Build the Health Care Center and forget the jail,” he said.

At the June 29 Health Care Committee meeting, the partners presenting the concept said the goal is to move the HCC residents along with the employees seamlessly into the new campus and bring the existing vendors. They also indicated senior living apartment units as well as an established endowment fund would help offset costs for those who could not afford to pay or whose Medicare/Medicaid did not completely cover the costs.

Both nonprofits are faith-based organizations governed by a Board of Directors, which partners said could include Sisters and county representatives in order to retain involvement and input into the senior care campus operations.