Please get involved with the Hi-Line Retirement Center

Dear Editor,

Please get involved with the Hi-Line Retirement Center. The movement to assisted-living only is 4 weeks away.

If you have questions or solutions for and about the Hi-Line Retirement Center speak to Karl Rude, Health Management Systems, the management company - contact him at HLRC and/or the board of directors. Rick Mickleson, president of the board of the Hi-Line can answer your questions also can tell you when the meetings are - was told public was invited to the meetings. Rick is in the phone book

This past week I interviewed Karl Rude, and he answered all my questions and invited any member of the community to contact him with their questions. He also provided me with operating statement as of August, 2016 showing a $430,000 operating cost loss.

One of the biggest financial problems the center has is the burden of the improvements done in 2009 - the indebtedness stands at over 4 million dollars.

Also over the past year the cost of traveling nurses was over a million dollars.

Some Medicare reimbursements were lost due to poor bookkeeping practices by the previous management.

Purchase of the Country Home residents is being paid off monthly.

The indebtedness constitutes a very high monthly outgo.

Also, HMS contract calls for 5.5% of the gross monthly income and they have not been paid a dime. Add another $204,000 plus to date to the debt.

If the center becomes assisted-living only - the capacity will be 40 patients with a base rate of $3,662 gives, if at 40, an income of $146,480 a month. Reviewing the standing monthly operating costs - taking into consideration no traveling nurse costs and trimmed down staff - and the standing indebtedness a loss will continue. And we will be right back in the same negative financial situation.

An alternative to complete dependence on monthly income is endowments but sitting in a negative financial situation it will hard to ask retirees to consider an endowment.

Please get involved by asking questions of management and the board and hopefully something can be worked out to save the center.

Barbara Schlocker

Malta

654-7402