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Stonebridge residents ask Monroe Council to put 24/7 RN mandate to a community vote, request exemption or reimbursement
Summary
Multiple Stonebridge residents told the council they want the municipal ordinance requiring a 24/7 registered nurse at their community rescinded or placed before the Stonebridge residents for a vote; residents say the requirement costs the community about $442,000 a year and asked for alternative staffing models or municipal reimbursement.
Residents and representatives of the Stonebridge 55+ community addressed the Monroe Township Council during public comment on March 3 to ask that the council either repeal the municipal ordinance that requires Stonebridge to provide a registered nurse 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or put the question to a local vote in Stonebridge.
Speakers including Susan Cohen, Fred Ruchi (who identified himself as a Stonebridge board member and a CPA) and Barbara Levine told the council the requirement imposes roughly $442,000 in annual costs on the community. They asked the council to either remove the requirement so the community can decide its own emergency-medical staffing or to allow Stonebridge to change the coverage to daytime RN hours (for example, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) with township emergency-medical services covering off hours, or to allow lower-cost licensed practical nurse or certified nursing assistant staffing. The residents said a vote within Stonebridge would be required to change internal arrangements and that they sought an avenue to have that vote.
What residents said: “Stonebridge Community is the only over-55 community…that is required to have a registered nurse 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Fred Ruchi told the council and asked either for municipal exemption or partial reimbursement of costs. Speakers said the mandate dates from about 17 years earlier and conditions in the township (nearby emergency medical services and urgent-care centers) have changed.
How the council responded: council members acknowledged receipt of the comments. No ordinance repeal or Council motion was recorded during the meeting; the item remained in the public-comment stage and residents said they would continue to press the council for a formal vote on the matter.
Why it matters: the 24/7 RN mandate carries material cost in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single homeowner association; a municipal decision to exempt Stonebridge or to reimburse costs would have budgetary implications for the township, while a repeal would alter local emergency-medical arrangements in that community.
Next steps: residents requested the council schedule the ordinance for formal consideration and to permit a community vote; no council action was recorded on March 3.
