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Residents raise concerns about nursing leadership, patient transfers and police interactions at Sullivan County HR meeting
Summary
Public commenters told the Sullivan County Human Resources Committee that the adult care center’s contracted director of nursing does not meet the position’s posted minimum qualifications and that patients have been left without functioning Hoyer lifts; a separate commenter described a Monticello police stop they said appeared to be an over‑detention.
Several members of the public used the Human Resources Committee meeting to raise concerns about long‑standing issues at the county adult care center and to describe a detention they said raised human‑rights concerns.
A nurse and member of the family council at the county’s adult care center (ACC) told the committee that the facility’s director of nursing (DON) is employed through a contract agency and ‘‘does not meet the minimum qualifications’’ listed on the county’s HR website. The speaker said the DON received a registered‑nurse license in 2022 and a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2023 and that the county’s posted DON job description requires, quote, ‘‘6 years of progressively responsible experience from professional nursing activities, 3 years of which shall have been in a supervisory position.’’ The commenter said the facility has operated without a permanent DON for more than a year and argued that a contract employee who reports to an agency rather than the county is ‘‘not in the resident’s best interests’’ and is not fully accountable to the facility operator.
The same commenter also reported operational problems at the ACC, including that some patients were ‘‘lying in bed all day because there are not enough functioning Hoyer lifts’’ and that Hoyer pads sometimes are lost in laundry instead of returned to patients. Committee members acknowledged the concern and asked HR staff to follow up; HR responded that staff would check the number of Hoyer lifts and battery issues.
Another public commenter described witnessing a police stop in Monticello in which a young bicyclist was detained and handcuffed for an extended period; the speaker said the incident troubled them and said the treatment did not appear to be justified by the subject’s behavior. Several committee members cautioned that the meeting record did not include the 911 call details or the police agencies’ perspective and urged care in how the incident is characterized. One committee member said the county’s new human‑rights position and planned public education are intended to reduce friction in interactions between the public and police; another committee member said education should target both police and the public so everyone ‘‘is on the same page.’’
A separate public commenter praised the county’s workforce development Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program and its partnership with the local college, saying the program could increase the local pipeline of CNAs.
No formal committee action was taken on the public comments during the meeting. Committee members asked staff to follow up on operational care‑center items and to check equipment and battery availability for patient lifts.
