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• St. Croix County nursing home will trim full-time staff to cut costs
• Wednesday night regional prep sports scores
• UPDATE: Lucky frozen Husky gets new home
• Hockey association, Somerset kicking off important anniversaries with

By Judy Wiff, Regional Editor

The St. Croix County Nursing Home will begin cutting the number of full-time nurses on staff as part of a plan to slow operational losses.

Consultants, who reported to the County Board last week, also suggested the county consider downsizing the facility, located in New Richmond, from 72 to 50 beds.

The department will immediately begin to implement the consultants' operational recommendations with the intention of having the changes made by April 1, said Health and Human Services Committee Vice Chairman Ralph Swenson.

He said the changes will be evaluated for three or four months, and the committee plans to present recommendations to the County Board in August.

Consultant Mary Jo Graham said the Medicaid payments the nursing home receives are "significantly less" than its cost of caring for patients, and as with other county-owned nursing homes, the employee salary/benefit package is "eating them alive."

The consultants suggested cutting about 10 full-time jobs and filling out schedules with hourly workers who wouldn't get regular county fringe benefits.

Full-time nurses at the home get fringe benefits equal to 48 percent of their salary as compared to 25 percent for private industry nurses caring for the same type of patients, said Graham.

The county property tax levy for the home was $1.3 million in 2004. The consultants predict that levy will have to be doubled in five years if there are no significant changes in operation or major increases in state and federal reimbursements.

A little over a year ago, the home reduced from 129 to 72 beds. But, said Graham, so far this year the facility averaged only 69.5 patients a day and there are still vacancies at other nursing homes in the county.

The study was done by Graham and Barbara Gunderson, both directors with Wipfli, a national consulting firm.

Repeatedly emphasizing that the quality of care at the home is "excellent," Graham said she and her associate are recommending nothing except that the operation become more efficient.

Nursing home funding problems are not unique to St. Croix County, said Graham. She said while the trend is to keep only the sickest patients in nursing homes, states haven't increased their payments to cover the per-day cost of caring for those patients.

Graham said it is hard for a nursing home with less than 100 beds to be efficient, seven Wisconsin nursing homes closed in 2003, nearly 80 percent of all Wisconsin nursing homes received Medicaid payments less than their costs, and there are no nursing home rate increases budgeted for the next two years.

As funding sources diminish, many county boards are questioning their obligation to operate their own nursing homes, said Graham.

The county is legally responsible for care to developmentally disabled, mentally ill, drug dependent and infirm people, but that doesn't mean it has to directly provide the care, added Gunderson. She said most of the patients at the county home are traditional nursing home patients who could go to private facilities.

"They need to be in a nursing home, but they don't need to be in a county nursing home," said Graham.

The consultants suggested integrating "specific task" nurses into the nursing hours, decentralizing the nursing program operation and reducing the number of nurses who are full time and receive the county benefit package.

The savings from reducing staff could be nearly $500,000 a year, according to Graham's figures. Supervisor Daryl Standafer wondered if the county will have trouble developing a pool of nurses willing to work part time.

"It will take some aggressive work," agreed Graham. She suggested mothers with children at home or older nurses who want to work fewer hours.

Other alternatives, she said, are to outsource operations and management and sell or close the nursing home.

The consultants estimated that downsizing to 50 beds would save the home about $770,000 a year, but noted that if the county transfers its licensed nursing home beds to another facility, the value at 72 beds is higher than 50 beds.

The consultants also advised that the county make timely decisions about operating the nursing home and have plans for communicating those decisions to all staff, residents and families, doctors, other county agencies and the public.

Judy Wiff is the Regional Editor for the RiverTown Newspaper Group. She is based in River Falls and can be contacted at regional@rivertowns.net

*** Boys' Basketball ***

River Falls 49, Kenosha Tremper 48

Superior 58, Barron 25

*** Girls' Basketball ***

Chippewa Falls 36, Janesvile Parker 28

Eau Claire Memorial 52, Hartland Arrowhead 44

Eau Claire North 56, Hortonville 49

Eau Claire Regis 59, Barron 58

*** Boys' Hockey ***

Hudson 6, Mankato East Minnesota 2

Tomahawk 6, Amery/Clayton/Clear Lake/Unity 4

Eau Claire Memorial 6, Antigo 2

Eau Claire North 3, Delano/Rockford, Minnesota 0

Hayward 4, Rice Lake 3

*** Girls' Hockey ***

Hudson 6, Manakato East/Immanuel Lutheran Minnesota 4

By Wheeler News Service

A family from Trempealeau County has adopted "Ice Train," the Siberian Husky dog found frozen to a train-track 10 days ago -- and was saved 10 minutes before a train would have run him over.

The previous owners from Chippewa Falls gave up their rights to the pet Wednesday.

Vickie O'Branovich of the Chippewa County Humane Association picked the new owner for his ability to provide the best surroundings for the dog. She would not identify the man, who already has two Siberian Huskies and a fenced-in place where the dogs can exercise.

The family who gave up Ice Train received the pet as a gift a couple months ago. He was called "Nobie" back then and after he ran away on a walk December 18th, the family second-guessed its ability to care for the animal.

More than 400 people asked about adopting Ice Train once his story became world-wide news. About fifty filed applications for the pet and three finalists were then chosen.

Because the pet was not claimed within seven days after he was rescued the original owners had to re-apply to get him back.

By Karl Puckett, News staff reporter

A big party for kids and adults will ring in 2006 and launch the beginning of two important anniversaries in Somerset.

The Archie P. Montpetit Memorial Civic Center will be the site for the Dec. 31 party that kicks off the Somerset Youth Hockey Association's 25 year-reign, as well as the 150th anniversary of the village of Somerset, Somerset Township and St. Anne Church.

The milestones will be celebrated throughout 2006.

"We're very proud to have made it this far and we have many more years ahead of us," said Cherie Link, secretary for the hockey association. Committee members thought there should be a kick-off event for the 150th anniversary, said Ruth Steiner, the committee's publicity chairperson. And what a better day than New Year's Eve, the start of a new year?

The hockey association was contacted about the event being held at the civic center.

"They said it just happened to be our 25th anniversary, so that would be great," Steiner said.

The hockey association runs the youth hockey program featuring players aged 3 to 14 competing at the atom, mite, squirt, peewee and bantam levels. About 100 families are involved.

Each fall, free skating lessons are offered. In the future, the association is considering offering lessons in figure skating as well because new families in town have experience, Link said.

Get more on this story in this week's print edition of the New Richmond News.

Karl Puckett is a staff writer for the New Richmond News. He can be contacted at kpuckett@rivertowns.net