Nursing home now in private hands

Donley County taxpayers are no longer in the nursing home business.

The sale of the Medical Center Nursing Home closed June 30, and hospital board chairman Alan Fletcher said the hospital district received all its money from the buyer Monday.

“It’s done,” Fletcher said Tuesday morning. “We’ve notified our bond company, and we intend to pay down a huge portion of the hospital district’s debt soon.”

The final sale price was $1.11 million.

Effective July 1 the nursing home’s name became Community Care Center of Clarendon and is owned by Clarendon Skilled Care, Ltd., of Denton.

Facility administrator Billy Ray Johnston said Tuesday that his staff was working well with the new owner and said he does not anticipate any changes other than the way the administration handles some things.

“The employees seem fine with it (the sale),” Johnston said. “There is some fear of the unknown, but I don’t think we have anything to fear. I don’t see a change in the care we provide.”

The hospital district will pay a fee to the new owner for services from December 1, 2007, to July 1, 2008; and after other expenses are paid, the district will be left with about $958,000 to put towards its bonded indebtedness of approximately $1.3 million.

“We’ll know by the end of the week what our final debt payments will be and when will be able to get that paid off,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher said the district will remain responsible for indigent care and the ambulance service.

The hospital district now proceeds with its new fiscal year without the expense of the nursing home and will hold a budget hearing July 22.

“It looks good,” Fletcher said. “The plan is to do away with personal property taxes, and then future tax reductions will depend on what it takes to run the ambulance service.

“I think the sale gives us the option to continue having the best ambulance service for a community our size in the Panhandle, and hopefully we’ll be able to raise salaries to keep it that way,” Fletcher said.