WAPAKONETA — Auglaize Acres, the Auglaize County nursing home, is up for sale.
County commissioners signed a resolution, Thursday, Aug. 24, to accept bids for the property and its furnishings from buyers who will still operate the facility as a nursing home.
“We would like this to be a continuance operation, a smooth transition of operations,” Commissioner John N. Bergman told the Sidney Daily News. “It’s good for the residents and good for the employees.”
The 91-bed facility has a current residency of 65 and posted a 2016 operating deficit of approximately $455,000. It operated in the black from 2012 to 2016, but sold bed occupancy in 2012 to increase revenue and repay a deficit then of about $400,000.
County appropriations to Auglaize Acres for 2017 are budgeted at $5,381,146.39.
The firm of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc., based in Chicago but with a broker in Columbus, has been retained to handle the sale. The broker also consulted with the county commissioners concerning general rules and instructions for the sale of a nursing home.
“Commissioners interviewed three companies,” before hiring the services of Marcus & Millichap, said Auglaize County Administrator Erica Preston. “They’re the leading folks in the industry with county home sales and operations.”
About 50 percent of Ohio’s 88 counties operate nursing homes and Auglaize is not the only one moving toward privitization.
Marcus & Millichap will be paid 3 percent of the acquisition price if that price is not more than $4,500,000 and 4 percent of the price if it exceeds that amount.
Sealed bids must be submitted by and will be opened at 1 p.m., Oct. 5. Site visits will be scheduled for Sept. 21.
The decision to get out of the business of running a nursing home would have come much sooner, the commissioners said in a June release, if Community Development Block Grant funds had not been available to cover the costs of capital improvement projects there.
“I’ve been here 20 years, and we have placed a significant amount of (CDBG) money there in that time,” Bergman said. From 1997 to 2005, some $238,000 in equipment and facility upgrades was spent. In 2010, there was a $94,000 upgrade of the parking lot and in 2012, a new $139,000 roof. Other things that CDBG funds took care of were funiture, windows, a nurse call system, drainage, ADA compliance, an elevator and, as far back as 1990, a sewer and force main.
“It’s easier to pick out the years we didn’t put (CDBG) money into it,” Bergman noted. Since 1997, there were no capital improvement projects in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016.
“Every other year, money has been needed through CDBG funds. The total is $1,222,000. This is money that does not come out of operating monies,” Bergman said.
Built in 1857 as an infirmary, the facility has always been operated by the county. A fire in 1907 destroyed the original ediface. It was replaced with a new building in 1909, and that building is still in use today. A 78-bed addition was constructed in 1976.
While the financial status is an important part of the picture, it was not the only determining factor when the decision was made to sell Auglaize Acres.
“The Acres has been impacted by regulations. The health care industry goes up and down,” Preston said.
“It’s an ever-changing world. We’re a single entity. We don’t have one administrator in charge of multiple homes,” Bergman added. The 91 beds are dual-certified for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Auglaize Acres offers intermediate care.
Bidders must do more than offer the highest price to win the sale. There are requirements in terms of care, Preston noted, and in employing a majority of the current staff. Auglaize Acres has 45 full-time, 18 part-time and 22 as-needed employees. Some full- and part-time employees are represented by the Service Employees International Union.
The commissioners have reserved the right to reject any or all bids.
Auglaize Acres will go to the “highest and most responsible bidder,” Preston said.
For information about bidding, call 773-867-1462 or email [email protected].
For information about services available at Auglaize Acres, call 419-738-3816.
