A group that is fighting to keep Lancaster Manor from being sold has asked the County Board to stop negotiating with the sole potential buyer because, the group alleges, the potential owner has a bad track record of running nursing homes.

The Save the Manor Coalition claims Hunter Management, based in Evanston, Ill., is owned by the Rothner family, which owns interest in more than 40 nursing homes throughout the Midwest, including Nebraska.

“Over and over again the various nursing homes and related companies owned by this family have proven to be among the most low quality facilities in the country,” said Kim Kaspar, co-leader of the coalition, in a news release.

Kaspar is president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2568, the union that represents employees of the county-owned nursing home.

The coalition, through its attorney, Gary Young, released a report Monday night questioning the Rothner family’s ability to provide quality care in its nursing homes, something that the County Board has repeatedly said was its highest priority.

The investigative report was compiled through the use of the Internet, newspaper articles and other reports about quality care. Among its findings:

* Of the 45 nursing homes owned in part or whole by the Rothner family, 20 have one-star ratings on Medicare five-star ratings program. One star means they were much worse than average. In many cases, the Rothner-owned nursing homes were the worst rated homes in their cities.

* Rothner nursing homes were assessed $780,000 in fines between 2001 and 2009, according to Medicare reports. Fines ranged from $10,000 to $50,000.

* Some of the Rothner nursing homes had deficiency ratings two or three times their state’s average; one nursing home in Canton, Ohio, was seven times the state average.

* Young cited numerous newspaper accounts which detailed violations at Rothner nursing homes. For example, in 2006, a nursing home in Hazel Crest, Ill., was fined $20,000 by the state after a patient suffering from dementia was found dead. She had been dead for 14 hours before anyone noticed. In another instance, an inspector found a 97-year-old woman, lying in her own waste with severe bruises on her arm, foot and both legs that staff could not immediately explain.

* In September 2005, an Illinois grand jury filed criminal indictments against a nursing home owned by several members of the Rothner family. The indictment, according to Young, said the home had failed to provide adequate medical care to a 48-year-old cancer patient who died at the facility. The nursing home was eventually fined by a criminal court.

Contacted earlier in the day, County Board Chairman Bernie Heier said he had not “heard a thing” about the allegations. He also said the county board has not investigated Hunter Management’s history of operating nursing homes.

“I’m just not commenting at anything at this time because I don’t have any information,” Heier said. “We’ll just have to see if the allegations are true.”

Heier did say that the County Board did look into the record of care at Homestead Rehabilitation Center at 4735 S. 54 St., which was acquired by Hunter Management about a year and a half ago. Citing privacy concerns, he declined to discuss details.

“Our facilities strive to achieve good care for the residents and positive work environment for our employees. We have built a number of programs to assist facilities with regulatory compliance and improve the quality of care,” said Anna Polyak, corporate compliance attorney with Extended Care Clinical, LLC. Hunter Management is affiliated with Extended Care Clinical.

Polyak, who also commented before seeing the coalition’s report, said the programs involve additional resources, education and training of its facilities’ staffs.

“We are also proud of many of our facilities, including Homestead Rehabilitation Center … that had good surveys from regulatory agencies,” she wrote.

Polyak said that after Hunter Management took over operation of Homestead in April 2008, it made improvements in a number of areas.

“We have done so by working closely with (the) facility’s many long-term employees, the community and local hospitals,” she wrote. “We look forward to working with the community and employees on a successful transition with Lancaster Manor.”

Young alleged that the Homestead Rehabilitation Center was in the bottom 25 percent of all nursing homes rated by Medicare.

Young told more than 200 people who attended a town hall meeting Monday evening in Lincoln that the coalition bears no ill will toward the Rothners but the report was compiled because the manor is “a matter of public concern.”

Some people in the audience, which included many manor employees, wondered if the County Board and its advisory committee had looked into the background of Hunter Management and the Rothner family.

Said Steve Foral of Lincoln: “Either you didn’t look or you found it and ignored it. I want to know what you did!”

Commissioner Larry Hudkins, who attended the town hall meeting, said he had heard rumors about Hunter Management but was assured by Commissioner Bob Workman, who told him that he had done a Google search, that the company was A-1.

“I don’t believe that the County Board understands the history of these folks that I’ve told you,” Young told the audience.

When the County Board issued a Request for Qualifications solicitation earlier this year, Hunter Management offered to buy or lease the manor. It was the only entity that expressed an interested in buying the nursing home. The current assessed value of the manor is $5 million. But the County Board’s advisory committee put a $10 million value on the manor in its report.

Four members of the County Board — Heier, Ray Stevens, Bob Workman and Deb Schorr — have voted to sell the manor. Hudkins opposes the sale, saying the manor just needs a qualified, experienced administrator to solve its financial problems.

Losses have ranged from $351,000 in September to $299,000 in January. The manor is projected to lose $3.5 million this fiscal year and some commissioners are concerned they may have to use taxes to keep it in the black.

Some members in Monday night’s audience questioned how the County Board could spend millions of dollars on a new jail, yet not support a nursing home for the elderly who have nowhere else to go.

Others were angry that four of the commissioners voted to sell the manor two days after a long public hearing, where all the speakers opposed such a sale. They accused the four commissioners of not listening.

Gwen Thorpe, the interim administrator at the manor, drew criticism from some audience members. Some said she was ruining the good reputation of the manor.

Said Courtney Elliott, who has two family members there: “She is running it into the ground. The people there deserve better!”

When asked by another woman to stand if they agreed, most of the audience did, including Hudkins.

Young and others urged the audience to attend Tuesday’s meeting of the County Board and voice their concerns about the Rothner family and present the board with facts from the coalition’s report.

“If this research is credible, you got something,” Hudkins told the audience.

Former Beatrice bank worker wins appeal
Saturday, Mar 14, 2009 – 09:00:17 am CDT
The Associated Press

OMAHA – A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court’s decision against a former Beatrice bank worker who said he lost his job because of his rare voice disorder.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday said the U.S. District Court was wrong to rule in favor of First National of Nebraska before trial and against Jeffrey Willnerd. There are significant facts in the case that warrant a jury trial.

The case has been sent back to the federal court.

First National is the parent company of First National Bank.

Willnerd, of Beatrice, sued First National in 2005, saying the company’s decision to eliminate his job and refuse to rehire him violated rights guaranteed by the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Years earlier, Willnerd was diagnosed with a neurological voice disorder that made it difficult for him to speak.

First National has said Willnerd’s job was eliminated for economic reasons. The company also said he wasn’t rehired because of the merits of other job applicants, according to court documents.

In 2007, a federal judge granted First National’s request for a summary judgment in its favor, without a trial.

But, said the three-judge appellate panel, “Because reasonable jurors could resolve these outstanding questions in Willnerd’s favor and conclude he is entitled to relief on his claims, we reverse.”

Doug Peterson, Willnerd’s Lincoln-based attorney, said he was encouraged by the decision and believes the court analysis was very complete.

Phone messages left with First National’s attorneys were not immediately returned.

Willnerd began working at a Beatrice bank in 1982. He was primarily responsible for real-estate loans and some commercial and installment lending. In 1983, First National acquired the bank.

In 1999, he noticed his voice was starting to cut out and worsened in following years to the point where he could only whisper. He interacted regularly with customers and didn’t request any accommodations or seek different bank duties.

First National has said that during the same period between 1999 and 2003, the bank branch’s performance suffered. The company realized it needed to cut expenses or boost income. In 2002, it began moving some duties of smaller branches to Omaha and that included some of Willnerd’s responsibilities.

Willnerd’s job was eliminated in September 2003. Later that year, he was diagnosed with a rare neurological voice disorder.

A supervisor later wrote in a memo that a downturn in the economy forced the move. He also described the merits of Willnerd and other employees and concluded that Willnerd’s position as a sales representative was the most expendable, according to court documents.

In total, Willnerd applied for 22 positions with First National between December 2003 and October 2005, but he raised issue with only four instances in his appeal.

“It is not necessarily the case that Willnerd was more qualified than the person actually hired, and at the end of the day, a jury may well accept First National’s proffered rationale,” the panel wrote.

If your employment rights have been violated, call the attorneys of Keating, O’Gara, Nedved, & Peter at 888/234-0621 for a free consultation.

Employee groups are starting to fight back. In Lincoln County, for example, Keating, O’Gara attorney Gary Young helped Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 26 in North Platte stop a recent attempt by the County Sheriff to ignore the Bargaining Agreement and negotiate directly with a favorite employee for a special wage and benefit side deal, meant for him only.

Faced with the reality that the actions of the Sheriff were an unfair labor practice, the Lincoln County Commissioners rethought the plan:

Wages scaled back
By Mark Young , The North Platte Telegraph
01/15/2008

“It’s quite a slap in the face from this board,” said Lt. Dave Williams, jail administrator for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, referring to his wage being scaled back after union representatives from the Fraternal Order of Police filed a complaint against the county.

According to Roland Kramer, state trustee for FOP, complaints were lodged for the way Lincoln County negotiated Williams’ contract when FOP is responsible for negotiating all salary wages for every officer, with the exception of sheriff and chief deputy. All other department officers fall under the FOP negotiated contract.

Attorneys for FOP argued that Williams’ contract with Lincoln County was not negotiated by FOP and that he was hired out of classification. Williams was hired under a Step 3 pay scale, but under a road patrol scale, not corrections.

FOP legal council has labeled it an unfair labor practice and has demanded that Williams’ current salary be rescinded.

“FOP has now been told that (the county) is willing to negotiate, but has refused to rescind its actions,” said legal council for FOP Lodge 26, in a written letter to the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners.

The letter further accused the county of continuing to perpetrate this action and while litigation was not wished, it would become necessary to file litigation against the county if it did not rescind Williams’ salary. Last week, Lincoln County Sheriff Jerome Kramer credited Williams with saving the county up to $15,000 a month in medical expenses alone with his administrative efforts.

Williams expressed disappointment with the commissioners’ actions despite it appearing to be a case of hands tied on the part of the commissioners.

“It’s my opinion we are hamstrung unless we are willing to go to litigation and personally I think it’s litigation that we can’t win,” said Commissioner Joe Hewgley.

Williams was nonetheless disappointed not only for the action, but indicated that the proposed negotiations that were expected to take place this week to resolve the issue apparently never took place.

“It was my understanding at last week’s meeting that the union and the board were going to negotiate this matter,” said Williams. “I’m disappointed and it was my hopes that this board would be behind that.”

Hewgley said he, too, was disappointed, but that it appeared the board had no legal recourse. Williams, however, feels as though he may have some and informed the board that he would be contacting his own attorney and, “will proceed from there.”

Ultimately, the commissioners were able to hire Williams under a Step 4 pay scale for a correctional lieutenant, but Williams said it was still a drastic pay cut that he could not afford to take.

Roland Kramer was asked by County Chairman Duane Deterding if what happened here was going to be satisfactory to the FOP union.

“I’m not sure where you are going with that, but what happened clearly fits the demands,” he said. “All I can do is report back to the executive board and let them know what happened here today.”

The decision by the commissioners apparently eliminated any need for further negotiation on behalf of an individual, but the issue can be brought back up when the county negotiates the FOP contract in September. Legal counsel for FOP indicated in its letter that any new negotiations on behalf of Williams would require new negotiations for all employees, not just one.

Visibly upset, Hewgley assured Williams, “You are not the only one disappointed. . . .”