Sauk County Nursing Home Update June 16, 2025

To the Chair:

Here's the latest on the status of our Sauk County Health Care Center, our cherished county nursing home since 1871, and the news is NOT good!

First of all, you may recall that, in September, 2024, 18/31 County Board Supervisors voted to give away our nursing home for a mere $5.1 million dollars to Aria Corporation, a for-profit company, which has an abysmal record of care to residents in its other nursing homes. The entire sale process was rushed and secretive, and those 18 Supervisors voted to sell despite overwhelming citizen/taxpayer opposition, despite a lack of two thirds majority vote, and despite the clear fiscal evidence that our county can afford to operate the nursing home! As a result, a citizen-led lawsuit was filed in late October and is currently active and pending. That lawsuit is likely to be heard soon and, if successful, would negate the sale.

In late May, the WI Dept. of Health Services (DHS), against all the concerns and evidence which citizens shared with them about Aria Corporation and about privatization in general, approved the transfer of our county nursing home beds to Aria! That was an awful "gut punch" to us- that a state agency, whose purpose is to safeguard nursing home quality, would ignore our voices!

Then, on June 5, 17/29 Sauk County Board Supervisors voted to LEASE our county nursing home to Aria Corporation, once again against citizens' strong opposition. This lease-to-own agreement was a last-ditch attempt on the part of the County Board to give away our nursing home to Aria. The Board and Aria did not care to wait for our lawsuit's verdict, which could nullify their lease and sales agreement!

Finally, I want you to know that, as of June 9, Aria Corporation has taken over the operation of our nursing home, via its lease agreement, and already, there are deeply disturbing consequences! They met with our dedicated county nursing home staff (many have worked there for years) and offered them a health insurance package that is simply unaffordable! For an individual employee, the deductible is $10,000 dollars for out-of-network providers (in-network providers are in the Milwaukee area only) and the family deductible is $20,000 dollars! In addition to the deductible, there is a cost-per-pay check for an individual of $72.49, and for a family- $780.18! No one can afford that kind of deductible or family, per-paycheck cost! Talk about another "gut-punch"! And I am told that several nurses and CNAs have already resigned as a result, and our nursing home was already short-staffed!

It is unclear to me how Aria can possibly attract any new employees. What will become of our beloved nursing home now? Don't our most vulnerable citizens and their caregivers, who have contributed to our community over the years, and diligently paid their taxes, deserve better? If you are as concerned as I am, please contact me at jbrey1957@gmail.com and find out how you can help our efforts.

By the way, our Sauk County Health Care Center had its best fiscal year ever this past year (2024), having about $500,000 dollars more operating income than operating expense, without using ANY property tax dollars!

Judy Brey,
Reedsburg