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Lakeland Healthcare Center boards sets 2025 budget goals, considers raising census target for 2026 after occupancy gains
Summary
Trustees were told leadership aims to hold FTE counts steady and bring a 2025 budget under previous targets; rising census (87 on meeting day) prompted staff to propose raising the 2026 planning census from 84 to 85 to reflect higher occupancy and revenue.
Lakeland Healthcare Center staff told the Board of Trustees on July 16 that they are developing a budget designed to avoid increasing full-time equivalent (FTE) staff and to come in below the 2025 budgeted totals.
Why it matters: staffing and census assumptions drive long-term care facility revenue and expense projections and affect decisions about overtime, temporary hours and program capacity.
Budget goals and assumptions: the presenter said the facility’s budget-development goal is twofold: not to increase FTE count at LHCC and to come in under the 2025 authorized budget. Staff asked trustees for feedback on priorities and said they would bring a balanced draft to county administrators.
Census and operations: trustees heard that resident census increased through the first half of 2025. Admissions and discharges through June showed 115 admissions and 100 discharges year-to-date; the facility’s maximum census allocation had been 83 last year because of staffing constraints but was increased to 89 after recruiting more nurses and CNAs. The presenter reported a day-of-meeting census of 87.
For 2026 planning, the presenter said staff expect to raise the budgeted target census from 84 to 85 because actual occupancy has exceeded prior expectations; the presenter noted that expenses will rise with higher census but revenues should too. Payer mix reported for the period was roughly 60% Medicaid, about 15% Medicare and just under 26% private pay.
Labor and cost effects: trustees were told the facility continues to offer crisis and weekend overtime to CNAs to maintain minimum staffing and that some injuries related to resident transfers have resulted in larger workers’ compensation claims; the presenter said risk-management and body-mechanics training are in progress.
Discussion vs. action: trustees received the update and had an opportunity to ask questions; no formal budget adoption or vote occurred at the meeting. Staff said they would present a budget to county administrators (Mark and Jessica were named as county administrators) in the coming weeks.
What remains unspecified: the transcript did not include a finalized 2026 budget, exact FTE counts, or the detailed revenue/expense modeling underpinning the proposed census change.
