Community asks to work with retirement center

Dear Editor,

22 people, residents of Phillips County, gathered at the Malta Senior Citizens Center on September 14, 2016 at 7 p.m. out of concern for the recent actions and deliberations by the board of the Hi Line Retirement Center and Health Management Services (HMS), the management company hired to help uplift the retirement center to a stronger financial status.

The consensus at the meeting is the HMS has failed to provide the support and aid necessary to the growth and stability of the retirement center. The major concerns cited were:

1. The failure of the board to advise the general public that a request to the state for decertification had been voted on, approved and filed at the encouragement of the management company.

2. The loss of long term care facilities which would force residents to make hard decisions about remaining in the community or moving to be near relatives who are forced to be placed in other locations for care.

3. The frequent and unsettling loss of local nursing staff which has resulted in the hiring of traveling nurses, who are both doubly expensive and may have caused an open survey to be brought to the attention of the State of Montana.

4. The continuing failure of the Hi Line Retirement Center to keep its census figures up to break even or to even know what break even means for the facility in order to pay bills timely.

5. The failure to fully disclose the distribution of the original contribution of $475,000 used as a Band-Aid to bring the Retirement Center to a more stable operating condition.

6. The failure of the board to use the 501(c)(3) status to create an endowment and fundraising campaign which would continue to bring in funds from the community and beyond to help stabilize income as well as a better marketing campaign could help better control census.

7. The failure to provide a good and equitable working environment for the nursing and other staff.

8. The failure of the board and the administration to fully collect accounts receivables and to buy and use a better accounting system.

9. The failure to adequately advertise for a new administrator.

10. The failure of the board and administration to keep open communications with the public about the ongoing issues within the organization.

The attendees spoke about items which they feel they could both contribute time and effort and how they can work with the board of the Hi Line Retirement Center to keep it open and moving towards profitability. These items are as follows:

1. Create committees which will have volunteer participants from the community willing to do research, public relations, and fundraising.

2. Create a survey and interview process of the local nursing population to find the best qualified candidates to come back to work.

3. Work with the board to hire an interim administrator to lessen the fees currently being charged by the management company.

4. Work with the board to review and hire administrator candidates and to encourage the candidates to consider the community. Make sure the candidate is strong in knowledge of employee relations, cultures, and promoting healthy working atmosphere.

5. Review other long term care models to find solutions to problems being encountered.

6. Create a marketing campaign to sell different age groups on the need for the maintenance of the facility for future residents and to encourage investment in the future.

7. Reduce debt load by reviewing current processes and employees for a leaner, more productive staff.

8. Offer tuition incentives to help our local employees be more qualified to succeed and promote.

9. Be transparent in the newspaper to keep the public informed.

10. Work with a qualified non profit association to request in depth training on fundraising and endowment collection.

A movement was made to offer support to the board and a request was made for notification of the next board meeting so that the general public can express its concerns and present its offer of cooperation in order to keep the long term care facilities open and moving to a productive state.

Roger Ereaux

Malta