Many questions in Rock Haven’s future
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The future of Rock Haven, on the grounds of the Rock County campus at the corner of Hwys 14 and 51 on Janesville's north side, is being debated.
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The Rock County Beta building constructed in the early part of the 20th century.
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The Rock County Alpha building constructed in the early part of the 20th century.
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The Rock County Alpha Pinehurst Sanatorium building built approximately 1929.
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The Rock County Asylum for the Chronic Insane. Photo from about 1894.
JANESVILLE — It seems like an old black and white movie.
At the turn of the 19th century, county-run health care was new to Rock County. Care was provided to the “insane” and “deviant.”
The number of patients far outstripped the number of caregivers, and the county didn’t hire a nurse until 1957.
That’s a far cry from Rock County’s health care system today.
At Rock Haven Nursing Home, 3418 County F, 260 nurses and support staff care for 130 frail, elderly and severely disabled patients.
The national push is to get people out of nursing homes, and programs and money now are available to keep many more elderly or developmentally disabled adults living with their families or in small group homes.
While it’s easy to see how things have changed, nobody knows what the future of county-run health care will be—or if Rock County will stay in the game.
Although the Rock County Board approved $80,000 in its 2008 budget to study Rock Haven and the needs of county residents who would use it, the study has been called off while health care officials look at regulation and funding questions, including:
-- When will the federal government require fire sprinklers in nursing homes?
-- When will Rock County get into Family Care, a state-mandated program that’s pegged to streamline funding sources to care for the elderly, disabled and developmentally disabled?
Answers to those questions and others will determine whether it would be more cost effective to renovate Rock Haven or to build a new facility if the county decides to keep providing care.
Those answers also could change the demographic of people who are cared for at Rock Haven now and in the future.
Director Sherry Gunderson said Rock Haven is “comfortable” with 130 patients. The skilled care nursing home was built in 1964 to hold 248 beds, so today, the building has space for offices and day rooms. Most patients have private rooms.
Rock Haven is home to people with traumatic brain injuries and those who are too chronically mentally ill to live in the community, Gunderson said. The home also cares for the frail elderly and an increasing number of patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
The home had its first major downsize to 180 beds in 2000 and another to 130 beds in 2007. The county has added lighting, boilers and generators to “buy five or 10 years” while it debates Rock Haven’s future, Gunderson said.
“We’ve done a whole lot of things to be able to stay here,” Gunderson said.
That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t like to see Rock Haven move into a new building. Continuing to upgrade Rock Haven could get expensive, she said.
The building is at its maximum electrical capacity, she said, and it will be a chore to add fire sprinklers if they become a requirement.
Legislation requiring all nursing homes to have a sprinkling system is pending at the federal level. While Gunderson doesn’t know when the bill will become law, it would cost about $1.3 million to install sprinklers at Rock Haven, she said.
It would cost another $2 million to air condition the building, Gunderson said.
Many of the patients’ bathrooms are not approved for accessibility by the Americans with Disabilities Act, she said.
Despite the questions, Gunderson hopes the county stays committed to providing care.
“It would be a shame if the county decided to get out of the nursing home business,” Gunderson said. “We have provided such a service to the community for so long.”
HEALTH CARE HISTORY
The history of health care in Rock County:
-- 1854—The Rock County Board buys property at Johnstown Center for the Rock County Poor Farm and Alms House. The site contains a hotel and barn. It was in Wisconsin that the classic system of the county care system was developed.
-- 1881—The Rock County Asylum opens. Residents are referred to as “inmates.”
-- 1893—The Rock County Board buys the current location of the county complex and builds a hospital and poorhouse. The facilities open the next year as the Asylum for the Chronic Insane and the Alm House.
-- 1911—The poor farm and asylum operate for many years with the inmates doing the bulk of the work. Long-term care consists of food, clothing, lodging and social supervision but not treatment by professional staff. The facility houses “deviants” including epileptics, unwed mothers, drug abusers and prostitutes.
-- 1925—The Alpha building opens as the women’s residence. The women work in the kitchen and laundry.
-- 1929—The Pinehurst Tuberculosis Sanitarium opens.
-- 1939—The Beta building opens as the men’s residence. The men work in the laundry and on the farm.
-- 1942—The county hospital has a capacity of 247 and the poor house 80. Patients continually exceed capacity. Staff work 12 hours days, have one day off per week and one weekend off per month.
-- 1957—The county hires the hospital’s first nurse.
-- 1961—About 50 staff members care for 302 patients. (Today, 260 staff care for 130 residents at Rock Haven.)
-- 1964—After 15 years of planning and many setbacks, Rock Haven opens as a skilled nursing home with 248 beds.
-- 1970—The Pinehurst sanatorium closes. (Today, the building is part of the Rock County Jail).
-- 1972—The Rock County Health Care Center opens with a capacity of 282 beds. Over the next 25 years, Rock Haven served the frail and elderly while the health care center served as a regional center for those with chronic mental illness or dementia with behavioral concerns.
-- 1988—Rock County contracts with Keefe and Associates on a needs assessment for Rock Haven and the health care center. Keefe’s report suggests six options, including staying at 388 beds or cutting beds for a variety of services.
Keefe projects that by 1995, the county would have 445 more beds than needed because of initiatives to provide at-home and community care.
-- 1991—Keefe makes six more recommendations, including maintaining status quo, selling Rock Haven or minimizing some services. Keefe notes that the closure of the 328-bed Caravilla Nursing Home and potential downsizing of the Rock County Health Care Center could impact the needs of county patients.
-- 2000—The burden of both Rock Haven and the health care center become too much for Rock County taxpayers. The health care center is cut to 180 beds and limited to Rock County residents.
Rock County is home to nine nursing homes with a total of 1,257 beds. In 2000, the bed need is 1,021 and projected to drop to 997 by 2010.
-- 2005—Residents and offices are moved from the health care center to Rock Haven. Emergency management, information technology and the intoxicated driver program move into the health care center.
-- 2006—Rock Haven closes its Intermediate Care Facility for the Mentally Retarded. Volunteers build a fenced entry garden, fire emergency doors are installed and smoking is banned.
-- 2007—Rock Haven is cut to 130 beds.
Source: Rock Haven Director Sherry Gunderson
Apr 21, 2008 at 12:23 p.m.
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I just would like to comment that for those of you who say to close the building are you willing to care for the patients there that are not able to be taken care of by their families? I have an aunt who lives there. She has been there for a long long time only because we do not have the equiptment to help take care of her. If it was not for Rock County she probably would be somewhere else where we would not be able to see her and help out as much as we do. I think that who ever wants to close Rock Haven needs to consider thsoe who cannot go home and cannot be taken care of by just any old nursing home. I belive that they need to build a new facility so that those who are there can continue to be taken care of like they are. Yes there are some querks about Rock Haven that I have but this is the only facility that is able to take care of her. For those of you who just say to close it I think you should take care of the patients then.
Apr 20, 2008 at 11:45 a.m.
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I apologize to Sherry Gunderson for part of my original comment. I meant to write that Human Services Director Charmian Klyve was the one so eager to close the county's detox center. I actually have a lot of admiration for Sherry Gunderson. As director of Rock Haven, she has a job few would want to tackle.
Apr 20, 2008 at 10:31 a.m.
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Thank you for the clarification.
Apr 20, 2008 at 10:25 a.m.
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For clarification:
Many of the rooms at Rock Haven have window air conditioners. Ceiling fans and fans mounted on walls move air through the building, but Rock Haven does not have central air.
Sherry Gunderson said many of the elderly patients prefer to have rooms without an air conditioner.
Ann Marie Ames
Reporter
Apr 20, 2008 at 10:19 a.m.
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Mandmsmom: I know a lot more about Rock Haven than you think. I also worked there (for more than 10 years) as a registered nurse. I have also worked at other facilities where many of the patients require total care. Unfortunately, Rock Haven is no longer an adequate facility. Yes, the staff is wonderful but there is always a struggle to fill staffing needs. And this is with a pay scale that is above most other facilities in the area. And, yes, staff members are probably more than worth every penny they earn. And, no, the nursing shortage is not extreme in Rock County. The point of this whole issue is that the Rock Haven facility is out of date and needs to be either overhauled or replaced with a new facility. Despite your belief, other area facilities will and do accept total-care patients with mental health disorders. Unfortunately, like many things in this world, this debate comes down to money. Is it right to expect Rock County taxpayers to foot the cost for a facility that may no longer be needed? My opinion is no. And, yes, you also are allowed your opinion or (as you call it) "running your mouth off."
Apr 20, 2008 at 8:45 a.m.
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I also wanted to say, as far as SarahB's comment on NO AIR CONDITIONING is abuse. At least 90% of the clients there freeze in the air conditioning and the other clients that need it have their own air cons in their rooms. So like I said, dont run your mouth until you know the details.
Apr 20, 2008 at 8:37 a.m.
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My mom has worked at this facility for 30 years and I myself spent 5 yrs working there in the nursing department. I truly feel that this facility is needed. One of the big reasons most of the clients end up at Rock Haven is because their families cant take care of them and other facilities wont care for them because of their needs. Think about it, when the time comes in life,dont Rock County tax payers have the right to go to a place that they can afford? I think everyone that runs their mouth on this issue really needs to go and see what its all about before you start saying what needs to be done. And think about how you would feel if your family member needed a place to go cause you couldnt care for them and no other facility would.
Apr 20, 2008 at 7:43 a.m.
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My parents worked there in the 60's and 70's when the Steinborns ran the whole thing. These people did more with less than our "board" has ever done!It seems to me that if all these nursing homes out there are making a profit at managed care, why is it that these well educated "board" members will not figure out a way to at least break even. They have a duty to balance real income against spending or have they not figured that out yet. I think there is an underlying agenda on this subject that they want slide past the taxpayers of this county and that is that someone told them this property is worth 50000 an acre and can short term fix our budget shortfalls. {just a thought there}. Outside, for profit nursing homes like Cedar Crest, charged my wifes aunt 12000 dollars to get in and when they decided she could not be handled there , they booted her out, kept their up front fee, and told us to find her a different place. All this happened in about a year. What a racket! If that is what is to happen to these people, then we need to keep them where they are. If our county government ca'nt keep streamline this care somehow, they are incompetant. There may be some tough decisions to make but, make the right ones for these people. 267 for 130 people sounds a bit much I think. What is the ratio at these for profit homes at anyway? Look in that direction and make informed decisions, not hasty ones. If George Bush can find a way to spend billions on a war we all did not want, Ca'nt we find a way to spend our millions intelligently.
Apr 20, 2008 at 6:58 a.m.
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Closing Rock Haven cannot be an alternative. There is no appropriate place to house these people, Mrs. Gunderson has to know this. The homes with open beds in this county will not take these residents, they require too much care.. Does everyone know why the county homes started, because other facilities could not meet the needs of the residents there. This will not change, the other homes will not absorb these high acuity, high cost residents. Title 19 under funds every nursing home, every nursing home administrator knows that you lose money on MA residents, you make it up with Private pay residents. I unfortunately do not think the gazette has any understanding how the real workings of the country facility are financially, and logistically. If rock haven closes, these residents will be relocated OUT of rock county, unless they are private pay, or go home. I would urge the Rock County board to discuss this matter with WHCA to find out more information before making decisions.
Apr 20, 2008 at 3:15 a.m.
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Is there enough affordable options for those who are at Rock Haven?
Not all families are able to care for disabled or those who need medical attention 24/7.
Of course Rock Haven could be converted for use as Huber Dorms......
Or how about converting Rock Haven to affordable independent or assisted living for disabled and elderly. Or a homeless shelter. Or a home for young single parents.
What are the needs in Rock County.....with the economy the way it is something smart needs to be done.
Apr 19, 2008 at 11:49 p.m.
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I have never understood why the county has Rock Haven. And the situation is even more confusing today given the trend to switch over to managed care. Is Rock Haven needed? Not if other area nursing homes can provide for Rock Haven's 130 patients. Sherry Gunderson was so eager to ax the county's detox unit that I can't figure out why she is pushing so hard to keep Rock Haven. The facility sounds extremely outdated. No air conditioning is abuse to these patients. I say transfer the patients to other facilities that can better handle them and forget spending millions to either upgrade Rock Haven or to build a new facility. Close it, Sherry.
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