McLean County nursing home reports highest Medicare census; turnover at 40%

The McLean County Health Committee heard Tuesday that the county nursing home recorded its highest average Medicare census in March and that the year-to-date annualized staff turnover rate through the first quarter is 40%.

The report, delivered by Tim Wiley from the nursing home, said the facility also is nearing the end of its first construction phase and remains on schedule. "I just was happy to present my report to you. Just a couple benchmarks I wanted to highlight. First of all, in the month of March, we hit the highest average Medicare census probably in the history of the facility. And, our target number for turnover rate has been 40% or lower. And year to date, our annualized turnover rate through quarter 1 is 40%," Wiley told the committee.

The metrics matter for capacity and budgeting. Wiley said census can fluctuate: "With the Medicare census, which is high turnover. There are times where we don't have beds available, and there are times that we do." He added the facility is holding a small number of beds unoccupied to allow for incompatibility issues or isolation needs. He also said revenue has been "staying at or above budget," noting those figures have not been adjusted for periods of lower census.

Member Johnson asked whether construction has affected capacity; committee members were told some beds are temporarily held but others are available for admissions. No formal action or vote followed the update; the report was received as part of departmental matters.

The committee heard no further operational requests from the nursing home and moved on to other agenda items.