(KLZA)-- A large crowd gathered for a town hall meeting last Thursday evening at the Humboldt City Auditorium to hear details and offer ideas on how to help keep Colonial Acres Nursing Home in Humboldt in operation.

The city-owned facility opened in 1969 following voters passing a bond electon to fund the $398,000 to construct the facility.

Currently, the city contracts with Rural Health Development, of Lincoln, to manage the facility with includes up to 45 beds for nursing home patients and up to 18 assisted living patrons.

Two major stumbling blocks have put Colonial Acres in a critical financial situation. The first being the Covid Pandemic and the more recent issue was Legionella Disease in the buildings water system.

At the present time there are 29 residents in the nursing home. Since October 1, 2023 to June 30, of this year, the facility has lost just under $100,000. $85,000 of the total is attributed to depreciation. In all, Colonial Acres owes nearly $300,000 in payables. Of that total, nearly $162,000 is owed to Rural Health Development for management fees.

The facility pays $13,000 per month for management, with a portion of that money used by the company to pay for the facility administrator salary and benefits. However, Rural Health Development has not been paid by the nursing home since July, 2023.

Colonial acres Administrator Betsy Packet said the payroll for the approximately 73 employees at Colonial Acres amounts to right at $180,000 monthly. She notes that keeping the employees paid and the residents care are high priorities along with being responsible for the money the residents pay.

Packet also noted that Colonial Acres is unique in the large number of residents who are private payers.

The number of private pay residents actually costs the facility some in funds from Medicaid. With only 37% of the residents baeing on Medicaid, the reimbursment is less that if the number was even 40% Medicaid pay. Packet noted that Colonial Acres tries to be selective in who is admitted, serving the local community first rather than fill the facility with residents from further away and then not having room for locals.

Matt Ross with Rural Health Development said fewer residents currently and increased expenses is creating a financial crunch for Colonial Acres at the present time.

Ross explained that Rural Health Development manages mostly small rural nursing homes and has been in business since 1990. All of their clients are non-profit. He said it is difficult for stand-alone facilities to have all of the expertise they need. RHD provides the facility administrator, has nurse consultants, business office consultants, a regional manager and puts business plans together to help manage the facilities in small communities.

Employee Retention Credits, which could be worth up to $1 million for the Humboldt facility, were discussed at length during the meeting. Ross explained ERC is a credit that is available for employee wages, based on certain quarters for 2020 and 2021. It takes into account the number of employees, what their wages were, and then the IRS provides a credit based on those wages.

Too many fraudulent applications were submitted from facilities across the country, leading the IRS to shut down the program, causing facilities such as Colonial Acres to be caught up in the stoppage of payments on the claims. Recently, the IRS has reopened the program and is doing some reviews of applications, throwing out fraudulent claims and approvaing legitimate claims. Ross says hopefull, Colonial Acres claim will be approved, sooner rather than later.

When and if those funds will be approved and released is unknown at this time.

The large crowd was able to ask questions and offer suggestions during the meeting. Among the ideas discussed was looking into an additional city sales tax to support the facility and creating an adult daycare program to bring in additional funds.

Humboldt area farmer Ben Steffen suggested that perhaps persons from the area could help raise some funds to help keep the facility running at this point. He noted it appears the financial situation is not an operation problem but hopefully a temporary cash flow issue. Steffin is hopeful that some area people will be able to find a way to come up with some funds to help with the situation.

Steffen called last weeks meeting a great demonstration of support for Colonial Acres and shows that people of the area understand the value of the facility.

Since the town hall meeting, a working group has been formed with Steffen as Chairman, and is developing clear financial support goals and plans for how the community can participate in helping ensure Colonial Acres continues to move forward on solid footing.

The committee will meet again next week, hoping to bring more specific plans to the community after gathering more information.

The Humboldt Area Community Foundation Fund, working within the Nebraska Community Foundation, will be an important conduit for donations. While a formal campaign is being developed, anyone who wish to write a check now, to support this citizen effort to get the nursing home in Humboldt, are encouraged to make a targeted donation via the Humboldt Area Community Foundation Fund in the name of this specific effort. For information on the Foundation, contact Mark Novak, 402-770-8029.

The Humboldt City Council is to meet Tuesday evening and one of their agenda items is approving support for fundraising efforts to assist with the operations of Colonial Acres.

Mayor Jan Wilhelm noted at the conclusion of last weeks town hall meeting that another such meeting will be planed to update area residents of the progress being made.