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— Trisha Benton Laurel Advocate
LAUREL – The Laurel City Council funneled more money to its nursing home last week so the center could meet its payroll obligations.
Publicly, the city has tried to minimize Hillcrest Care Center’s financial woes while at the same time an impassioned nursing home staff organizes public meetings and petitions in an effort to bring issues to light and save the nursing home from closing.
“You guys know what the problem is. You know what we’re coming to you with. It just seems like you’re trying to avoid the situation completely,” said Wendy Krei, a registered nurse at Hillcrest, who spoke at the city council meeting last week. “We’re constantly belittled by you guys and made to feel like we are making up these problems.”
How we got here
Staff said they brought their concerns of financial instability and administrative mismanagement to the seven-member Hillcrest advisory board about two years ago, who started questioning the facility administrator, council and mayor. The council dissolved the nursing home advisory board - which consisted of individuals with healthcare background - in May 2024. In its place, the mayor and city council members were tasked with overseeing the operations, governance and administration of Hillcrest.
Without an advisory board to voice concerns, Hillcrest staff went to a city council member. Instead of helping, city council members met with the facility administrator independently and employees were reprimanded for speaking out, Krei said.
Not feeling heard, staff posted signs around Laurel and social media alerting the public with a headline in capital letters, SAVE HILLCREST CARE CENTER. That move led to more than 60 people attending the last regular city council meeting, Jan. 13.
The city responded, saying the fliers gave an inaccurate message that the center is closing and the inaccurate impression that the facility is not equipped to care for its residents.
A document was circulated by Hillcrest staff detailing the city-owned facility’s financial obligations swelling year over year to now more than $450,000 in accounts deemed open payables - in other words, unpaid bills.
The bills continue to go unpaid despite an increasing line of credit to its current $500,000 - provided by Security Bank, where Mayor Keith Knudsen is the president.
The city said the document circulated at the council meeting doesn’t give the full financial picture and didn’t include accounts receivable information. Instead, the city said Hillcrest’s working capital deficit is $66,385.
Meanwhile, the facility administrator decides which vendors get paid. As a result of non-payment, many vendors have stopped doing business with the facility, including staffing agencies and supply companies, staff said.
According to documents obtained by the Laurel Advocate, the Nebraska Department of Labor has issued a determination for the City of Laurel to pay certain employees after a violation of the Wage Payment and Collection Act.
If the city does not pay, citations will be issued which can be appealed. A city-hired attorney is reviewing the case.
Last week’s meeting
About 20 people from the public attended the city council meeting Jan. 30 with a dozen staying for 90 minutes while the council went into executive session.
After exiting executive session, the council voted unanimously to secure a new $180,000 line of credit from Security Bank, Laurel, for one year, in an effort to cover payroll at the center.
The council also extended its existing $500,000 line of credit for another year.
Knudsen said he would not personally be involved in the loan processing and council president Justin Eriksen will be signing for the line of credit on behalf of the city.
Two city council members have started conducting individual meetings with Hillcrest department managers to gain input on cost-saving strategies. Those will then be taken to the administrator to go over and implement, said Councilman Chris Hartung.
Instead of small group or individual meetings, staff members continue to want a public forum where staff, community members and the council can have an open exchange back and forth.
Knudsen said a public forum isn’t allowed under the Open Meetings Act.
The city did not respond when the Laurel Advocate provided examples of how other boards and councils are able to host town-hall style meetings for public input without tacking action.
The city said they hosted meetings for staff to air their concerns Jan. 20, but only six people showed up.
Krei said having such a meeting in the nursing home disrupts residents, and staff members weren’t comfortable voicing their concerns in front of the facility administrator.
“We feel like you are putting this administrator over our residents and this facility,” Krei said.
There’s a current effort by community members to gather signatures on a petition to remove the current facility administrator and reinstate a nursing home board.
Several community members also spoke up at the council meeting, urging the council to listen to the staff and change their perspective, including former mayor Scott Rath.
“How much longer can we proceed down this road before we’re going to shut the doors? Once it’s shut, it’s too late. If you keep doing the same thing ... you’re just going to lose more money,” he said. “You need to stop the hemorrhaging. You need to stop the bleeding. If you guys make the right choice, you’d probably get some support from people.”
Jodi Thompson, Laurel, said residents currently at Hillcrest and their families are looking for new placements. And the center can’t afford to have its census dip even lower.
“They’re afraid there’s not going to be a place for them,” she said. “There’s been a lot of rumor and it’s not all rumor anymore.”
Krei confirmed some staff members have reluctantly started to look for employment elsewhere. She expects multiple resignations if the council doesn’t take action to remove the facility administrator at its next council meeting Monday, Feb. 10.
Employees are committed to helping residents find alternative placements if that is what it comes to, she said.
Kami Asbra, Laurel, said when the community sees a need, they rally together. One only has to look at all the new buildings around town - from the new Laurel-Concord-Coleridge school building, to the new fire hall, new daycare center, and the community building which houses the city office and senior center.
Asbra encouraged the city council to be more forthcoming with information so that citizens can be more involved.
“If we lose our nursing home, in a few short years, we are Belden. We are Allen. We start to lose one business, the second biggest employer in town, and it just trickles down and affects everything,” she said. “We should be taking care of our elderly.”
