.jpg)
LAUREL – A petition for changes in administration at Hillcrest Care Center gained hundreds of signatures which were presented to city officials Friday.
Through an effort of several community members, about 235 signatures were obtained on a petition to remove the facility administrator and re-instate a nursing home board. Among those signatures are nursing home residents, said Wendy Krei, a nurse at Hillcrest.
City councilmen Chris Hartung and Justin Eriksen conducted individual meetings with department managers at Hillcrest over the past week. The council discussedthematterinexecutivesession for 90 minutes and then read an official statement but no action was taken at Monday’s Laurel city council meeting.
More than 20 from the public attended the meeting to talk about the financial and management issues at the city-owned Hillcrest Care Center, includingMarilynAbts,JodiThompson, Scott Rath, Paul Meier, and Hillcrest staff members Marsha Meier and Krei.
Speakers urged the council to take action and be more transparent.
Publicly, the city has minimized Hillcrest Care Center’s financial woes while at the same time an impassioned nursing home staff has been organizing publicmeetingsandpetitionsinaneffort to save the nursing home from closing.
On Jan. 24, the council unanimously approved a new $180,000 line of credit from Security Bank, for one year, so Hillcrest Care Center could cover payroll.
A document was also circulated by Hillcrest staff detailing the city-owned facility’s financial obligations swelling year over year to more than $450,000 in accounts deemed open payables - in other words, unpaid bills.
Thebillscontinuetogounpaiddespite 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.
Currently, there are 16 residents receiving care at the 36-bed skilled nursing facility, Krei said.
Staff said they brought their concerns of financial instability and administrative mismanagement to light about two years ago to the seven-member nursing home advisory board. After the board started questioning the facility administrator, the council and mayor, the nursing home board was dissolved in May 2024. In its place, the mayor and city council were tasked with overseeing the center and administration.
Feeling unheard by a city council member, Hillcrest staff appealed to the public, hosting two well-attended meetings. Several community members including some members of the the previous nursing home advisory board collected signatures on the petition.
Employeeshavebeenbolsteredbythe community support, Krei said.
“We need them to stick by us,” she said. “We are in the battle and we’re going to fight. We are in it as long as they are cheering us on.”
