We welcome letters to the Editor, a chance for members of the community to comment on issues of concern to them. All letters must be original, not duplications of letters addressed to public officials or written by others. The views and opinions expressed are those of the letter writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication, its publishers, Editor, or staff.
To the Editor:
To Lincoln County inhabitants and the Foto News office:
We all love Pine Crest, the employed staff, doctors, nurses, therapists, dietary, food served, entertainment provided, the list goes on. And of course, the impressive buildings and nice location are perfect.
BUT —
- 85 rooms are empty, so if the room per day is $400, that means 400 times 85 = $34,000 per day lost. Per month, 30 days times $34,000 = $1,020,000. Big time, is lost. Never to put into the pot.
- Millions of dollars lost. We are in the red. That means losses.
- Shortage of staff. Advertise the needs maybe!
- Difficulty in admittance. Poor planning with hospital vs. Pine Crest. This can be improved quickly with in-service time.
- Expenses will rarely decrease, but only increase. Administrators can fix that with study, needs, not over stocking, etc. I have found administrators with nursing background are the best at this job.
These are the negative words to improve. The majority of folks in Lincoln County cannot afford the present set-up. If we purchased, we would never be out of debt. And folks would sell home, to leave town.
The positive effect would place this big headache on voting ballot box for people’s choice. If it goes belly up, then have County officials find a reputible buyer, to provide utmost care to our people in need of help. Somehow keep living prices within positive. We can solve this —
From a retired RN, still with current nursing license.
– Dorothy L. Johnson
Merrill, Wis.
To the Editor:
QUOTES & FACTS TO CONTEMPLATE
Majority? 85.3% of 782 survey replies = 667 to increase County portion of real estate taxes.
Lincoln County has 17,541 registered voters; 8,603 cast ballots in April 2023.
Independent Financial Audit? Audit for Year End December 31, 2022, by Clifton Larson Allen LLP was presented to Lincoln County Board on October 17, 2023.
Ownership? “For years we have been investing in Pine Crest.” What amount have you invested? Resident of Lincoln County for 70+ years but only 1 of 30,000 living in Lincoln County. There is no guarantee that you will be accepted at Pine Crest. It’s a true story that in past two years, a lifetime Lincoln County resident was denied by Pine Crest twice! She had been living in Merrill but ended up in Tomahawk in privately-run nursing home.
Affordable? Last time I checked for someone paying for their care, Pine Crest was approximately $9,000 a month–same as other nursing homes. Assisted living homes are about half of that.
QUOTE: “I only knew I couldn’t afford to put him in a private nursing home at a cost of $6,000 to $9,000 a month. Fortunately, a woman whose family took classes from Ken connected me with Pine Crest.” “As we age it’s only right that our county should look out for us.”
(From someone who has spent years in Lincoln & Marathon County.)
– Leona Vander Sanden
Gleason, Wis.
Letters To The Editor Policy:
*Letters must be 250 words or less. (There will be no exceptions to this. Any letter longer than 250 words will not be printed.)
*The writer must include their full name, complete address, and a phone number where he/she can be easily reached for verification. Phone numbers and street addresses will not be published, but will be used for verification purposes, if necessary. Letters must be signed and the name, city, and state will be printed.
*Letters may be edited for style, grammar, and length. Form letters or those we determine to be libelous or slanderous will not be accepted. Any letter deemed derogatory, inflammatory, or involving vulgar language will not be published. We reserve all rights to reject material submitted to this publication.
*Letters will be published on a “first come, first served” basis. Any letters which we are unable to publish in the printed newspaper may be run online at www.merrillfotonews.com and/or may be printed in the paper at a later date.
*In fairness to all, and due to space constraints, there is a limit of two letters per year from an individual writer. Additional letters may be submitted to our Paid Letters to the Editor column and will require payment in full prior to publication at the same rate as Political Letters to the Editor (see policy below).
Political Letters To The Editor Policy:
All letters submitted as an endorsement for a political candidate, referendum, or political agenda will carry the same guidelines as above; however, they will be charged $40.00 per letter of up to 250 words in length. Longer political letters will be accepted but will be charged $10.00 per additional 100 words. All political letters must be prepaid prior to printing. Letters to the Editor will not be accepted from candidates running for election or representatives of an organization endorsing their own referendum, as these are clearly advertisements and not opinion letters; those submissions will be referred to our Advertising Department to be run as paid ads.