Strafford County delegation hears report showing multi‑year losses at Riverside Rest Home, discusses privatization and funding options

Members of the Strafford County legislative delegation spent most of their meeting reviewing financial data and policy options for Riverside Rest Home, the county‑owned nursing facility, after a presenter’s report said the home has run persistent operating losses under Medicaid reimbursement.

The presenter summarized Medicaid cost‑report figures and told the group that Riverside posted a Medicaid cost‑report operating loss of about $7.17 million in 2024 and that average annual losses over the past decade run in the mid‑millions. "The Medicaid cost report is effectively telling the county, at current utilization and reimbursement levels, this facility does not work as any sort of business at all," the presenter said. The presenter added that a long record of losses means a major capital investment or rebuilding would "lock in decades of future losses."

Why it matters: Delegation members said the losses are largely structural—tied to Medicaid reimbursement and long‑term shifts that have pushed more cost to county budgets—and that continuing current county ownership effectively spreads operating deficits across the property tax base. The delegation needs to reconcile…