Pine Valley administrator reports stronger October census, staffing hires and training plans

Angela, Pine Valley administrator, told the Richland County committee that Pine Valley’s October financials showed improvement compared with September, driven primarily by a higher census and increased Medicare revenue. "Our census was, like, 64 last month," she said, and said that helped the facility’s Medicare revenue for October.

Angela outlined several October expenses and vouchers, including travel and training for RN and CBRF managers, small capital purchases and a denture replacement charged to the capital fund for $1,948. She said agency staffing costs rose in October, driving agency spending higher than the prior month.

On capacity and recruitment, Angela said Pine Valley’s skilled nursing unit can hold up to 80 residents and that the facility was running at roughly 62 residents at the time of the meeting. She described outreach to local hospitals, open‑house events, and senior sites to recruit admissions and said the facility is still hiring to cover current and anticipated needs.

Angela listed recent hires and staffing changes, including a new full‑time RN, a full‑time lead cook and several CNAs, PCWs and activity aides. She noted one retirement after 31 years of service.

The administrator said Pine Valley is implementing a new records and financial system and that "Our go live date is, December 2." Accounts receivable work was already underway, and accounts payable migration was planned for the week of Thanksgiving.

Angela said the facility is weighing options for a laundry contract that expires in December: renewing the current contract, accepting a Vanbox quote, or bringing laundry back in‑house if the facility can cover the staffing and equipment costs. She also described talks with a health‑care workforce training company to host CNA and med‑tech classes on site. "If you do host a class, you get a thousand dollars from this company to host this class along with $250 for every student that you get through the class," she said, describing a revenue share and recruitment incentive.

Angela also recounted resident and staff activities over the past month, including an employee appreciation outing, a Halloween trick‑or‑treat that hosted about 220 children, and monthly staff trainings (falls prevention, fire safety and upcoming dementia training).

The update included a brief discussion about a neighboring county’s nursing home decertification and bed reductions amid staffing shortages; Angela warned that when beds are removed from capacity they are difficult to recover and reiterated Pine Valley’s strategy of cross‑training and hosting local training to build a pipeline of workers.

The committee did not take formal policy action on these items during this meeting; items described were updates and operational planning.