Kathy, the nursing home administrator, briefed the LaSalle County board on operations, staffing and capital needs at the LaSalle County Nursing Home, reporting a current census of 61 residents, seven new admissions and five discharges for December and asking the board to consider wage changes and several maintenance projects, including an immediate pipe repair.

Kathy said long‑term care staffing rules issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health were implemented January 1 and require facilities to maintain direct care nursing coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She told the board that three current nurses would leave by the end of January and that the facility has been using agency nurses at about $80 per hour to cover gaps. To improve recruitment and reduce reliance on agency staff, Kathy requested increasing the full‑time starting wage for registered nurses to $35 per hour and raising PRN (as‑needed) RN pay; the board voted to forward a motion to raise PRN RN pay to $40 per hour to the salary and labor committee for further review and eventual full‑board consideration.

Board members asked Kathy for more detail on staffing implications. Kathy said raising the starting wage to $35 an hour (a roughly $0.47 per hour increase from current starting wages she reported) would make the county more competitive with other employers and lower the frequency of costly agency hires. She said that with a higher starting wage and ongoing recruitment the facility aims to raise census toward 65 residents by late winter and about 70 by year’s end (the facility’s licensed capacity is 75).

Kathy presented several maintenance and capital items. She described an urgent cracked cast‑iron sewer pipe in the tunnel beneath D Hall that is producing strong odors after kitchen degreaser use; she characterized that pipe repair as an emergency and asked to proceed promptly. She also detailed a multi‑part kitchen electrical project (laundry power relocation, a separate power line for warming tables, and a kitchen panel replacement) that will require temporarily shutting down kitchen power for about two days; the facility has an emergency menu and will serve on disposable products during the outage. Kathy said quotes have been received for some work and that additional quotes or a formal bid process will be used where required.

Other items in the administrator’s report included: plans to purchase two replacement power‑assist beds (vendor quote listed $1,600 per bed and Kathy said she will order two now and keep one in reserve), a contract for annual fire extinguisher maintenance with Illinois Valley Fire and Safety, a pending fob‑entry system quote from Rockford Tech Systems (fobs not included), and a vendor quote for perimeter security cameras; Kathy said she had another camera quote in progress through the county IT department. The camera quote discussed at the meeting included the figure that was read as "2,200,895"; the administrator described that as a one‑time installation cost but the transcript did not clarify whether that figure represented dollars or a different formatting of the vendor total, so the exact cost and maintenance schedule were not resolved in the meeting.

Kathy also described infection control and clinical operations: she said the nursing home remained free of active COVID cases at the time of the meeting, that vaccines for COVID, influenza, pneumonia and RSV are up to date for residents who accepted them, and that the Director of Nursing is recruiting for RN, LPN and CNA positions and will restart monthly management huddles. The administrator said a four‑week consultancy from IPMG Risk Management Services has been arranged (initial four weeks paid by the trust) to support regulatory and clinical questions, and she listed training and audit plans to prepare for the annual IDPH survey.

During discussion, board members asked about bidding practices for capital work; Kathy said she had secured single quotes for some items from contractors already familiar with the facility and would obtain additional quotes or put work out for bid when required, except where she designated a repair as an emergency. Board members emphasized the need for at least two quotes for non‑emergency projects under county practice.

Formal actions recorded in the meeting included the board’s approval of the nursing home report and bills and a motion to refer a PRN pay raise to the salary and labor committee. The referral passed on a recorded voice vote with the board members present voting yes.