TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
The Agenda for the Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, Lincoln County Administrative & Legislative (A&L) Committee, released last week, contained two items related to Pine Crest Nursing Home. Agenda item #9 was titled “Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Next Steps for Pine Crest” and Agenda item #10 was set for Closed Session indicating the committee might consider a motion to adjourn into closed session for the purpose of deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, noting “Pine Crest Sale Negotiations” specifically as the topic of discussion.
Pine Crest Nursing Home is not currently listed for sale by the County; however, the Board had previously approved selling the facility, a sale that fell through the end of June 2024 in response to a lawsuit filed by current District 7 County Supervisor Don Dunphy that challenged the sale. Dunphy subsequently dismissed the lawsuit. He ran for County Supervisor this past April on a promise to stop the sale of Pine Crest.
Unsolicited interest in purchasing Pine Crest
During the Aug. 20 Lincoln County Board of Supervisors meeting, prior to discussion regarding a possible referendum pertaining to Pine Crest on the Nov. 5 ballot, Board Chair Jesse Boyd had noted that the initial buyer had sent a letter again expressing interest in purchasing Pine Crest and that the County had also received another letter of interest.
“Before we get to the motion,” Boyd said in the meeting, “I want to be open, and I have some information to share with the Board and those in attendance. … As we sit here today, former Asset Purchase Agreement with Senior Management for the sale of Pine Crest was terminated by the end of June. Pine Crest is not currently listed for sale. Broker contract with Marcus and Millichap has expired.”
“Although not up for discussion or any action tonight, perhaps relevant for purposes of transparency to all information during our consideration of this resolution, Senior Management has expressed interest in still acquiring Pine Crest if litigation is resolved,” he said. “The County also received an unsolicited letter expressing an interest in purchasing of Pine Crest by a different buyer.”
“I’m not saying more about either one of these communications,” Boyd said, “as the County has not acted upon them and they are not a part of today’s Agenda, but it seems general awareness of information that would be relevant and also I believe it is in the interest of transparency in this process. I want to be transparent to this process.”
Following discussion of the original referendum asking voters if they would support a $5 million increase in the tax levy for the next 5 years to fund the operations, maintenance, and debt service of Pine Crest – and two amendments seeking to modify that resolution first to $1.5 million for 10 years and then to $4.5 million for 5 years, both of which failed on roll call votes – the County Board then voted 8-11 against the resolution for a November referendum.
People for Pine Crest start online petition
In response to the items on the A&L meeting Agenda, People for Pine Crest – a local grassroots group that has been opposed to the sale of Pine Crest Nursing Home to any outside entity and that desires to keep the nursing home Lincoln County owned – took to Facebook and announced they had started an online petition opposing the sale of Pine Crest. That petition is online at: form.jotform.com/242426696823162.
Offers to purchase spark new Dunphy lawsuit
Boyd’s mention of Senior Management and another unsolicited buyer’s interest in purchasing Pine Crest Nursing Home set events in motion that sparked a new Dunpy lawsuit. On Aug. 26, 2024, Dunphy filed a lawsuit in Lincoln County against Renee Krueger, Lincoln County Administrative Coordinator. The lawsuit asks the Court for a writ of mandamus directing Krueger to produce to Dunphy a copy of “the offer made to purchase Pine Crest Nursing Home by Senior Management, Inc. and the unsolicited offer to purchase Pine Crest Nursing Home made by an unidentified buyer.” In Dunphy’s filed Complaint, he alleges he requested the documents via an open records request to Krueger on Aug. 22 and was denied the request the same day “via e-mail asserting that the documents are not public records until negotiations are complete and that the Defendant believed the documents would be the subject of a closed session meeting.” Dunphy cited Wisconsin Statute 19.32(2) defining a record to include “any material … kept by an authority” as the basis for his request and alleged “An offer to purchase a publicly owned nursing home is clearly a record within the meaning of Stat. 19.32(2).”
“The Defendant’s refusal to allow inspection of public records is without authority and a brazen flouting of the Open Records Law,” Dunphy’s Complaint further alleged.
As of Aug. 27, Marathon County Circuit Court Judge Suzanne C. O’Neill had been assigned to the case, as Lincoln County judges were disqualified, having had previous working relationships with the parties.
County Board funding for Pine Crest
Regardless of what happens in closed session at the A&L Committee meeting, any recommendation to sell Pine Crest or list Pine Crest for sale would need to go to the full County Board for approval.
In the meantime, the County Board needs to determine how it will fund the ongoing cost of operations, maintenance, and debt service for Pine Crest for 2025. Dunphy and members of the People for Pine Crest have suggested the nursing home could be self-sustaining insofar as operations and debt service are concerned based on recent increases in State Medicaid reimbursements based on 2023 financials and year-to-date 2024 financials. However, while the County is still under contract with North Central Health Care (NCHC) for the management of Pine Crest, the County must still pay NCHC its annual $440,000 payment. After receipt of this payment, NCHC has then been paying the $630,000 annual debt service on the Pine Crest expansion project; however, Lincoln County is liable for the payment if NCHC incurs an annual shortfall at the end of the year.
In addition, Lincoln County needs to provide ongoing maintenance of the Pine Crest facility and begin to address deferred maintenance, expenses they weren’t planning to need to do for 2025, as it was anticipated the facility would no longer be County-owned going into 2025. All that changed when the Asset Purchase Agreement with Senior Management was terminated the end of June.