The latest on the DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing Center (DCRNC) financial situation comes from a 35-minute discussion during DeKalb County Board’s Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting November 10. I’ve written about revenue losses due to low census, and increased expenses because of the facility’s dependence on outside agencies for staffing. Now county staff have discovered additional revenue losses attributable to the failure to bill Medicaid timely.
In a presentation during the COW, county administrator Brian Gregory reported that of $5.7 million of receivables unbooked during the period of 2018-2020, about $1.8 million appears uncollectible because the Medicaid “window” for billing was missed. Mr. Gregory said the matter has been referred to the state’s attorney’s office to investigate the potential for recovery of funds from Management Performance Associates (MPA), the company that has managed the facility for 24 years, and the county is looking to our state-level elected representatives for assistance as well.
The DCRNC operating board authorized county staff last month to prepare a request for proposal (RFP) for management of the home — the first RFP since the county signed a contract with MPA 24 years ago, according to Mr. Gregory, who also said MPA has given notice it will terminate its contract with the county as of December 31.
Discussion following the presentation revealed a consensus to vote on a resolution to abolish the DCRNC operating board during its December 8 meeting, which would bring back governance of the facility to the full county board. There also appeared to be potential support for selling the facility, but not for closing it.
The link to the podcast of the meeting is here. The DCRNC discussion starts at 25-1/2 minutes in.
Below is a PDF of the slideshow that accompanied the presentation.
Nov-10-COW-slideshow