.jpg)
City parts ways with nursing home administrator
LAUREL – The administrator at the embattled Hillcrest Care Center is no longer employed there.
That decision was finalized in action taken at the Laurel City Council meeting Monday night.
That action came in front of an audience of about 50 community members who waited an hour while the council discussed Administrator Megan Wieck’s employment in executive session.
Councilman Chris Hartung made the motion that the City of Laurel and Wieck “mutually separate,” and council members voted unanimously to approve.
After that decision was announced, the community then waited 40 more minutes while the council went into executive session to discuss next steps with Hillcrest.
Councilman Justin Eriksen then read a statement that no action would be taken and that the issue may be discussed further at a special council meeting called for Friday. The council was already set to meet that day regarding the lease with Cedar-Knox Public Power.
“Thanks for the transparency, Keith,” yelled out a man from the crowd, following the council’s inaction, directing his comment to Mayor Keith Knudsen.
The community has grown incensed by a perceived lack of communication from the city since the nursing home’s financial woes first came to light publicly in January.
“You can’t keep kicking the can down the road,” another woman yelled out from the crowd as the council voted to adjourn.
Earlier in the meeting Monday night Lindsay Kvols and Scott Rath spoke to the council, receiving audience applause for their remarks.
“Why did you put her (Wieck) above the constituents you serve and voted for you?” Lindsay Kvols asked during the city council meeting. “Why were you resistant to address the troubles HCC was going through? Was it because you think you know better than the staff and former governing board? Or is it simply you’re unwilling to listen, out of some personal grievance? What other issues in the city are there that you are willing to put your pride above the community?”
She also asked the city council to perform due diligence and investigate issues brought forward — not assume they know the whole story.
“If as a council member you are unable to separate city affairs from personal and business relationships, it is time to evaluate your ability to serve this community,” she said.
At a public gathering March 3, some community members expressed frustration with the lack of information coming from city officials. Since early January, the city has issued three press releases about Hillcrest and have ignored specific questions posed by the public and by the Laurel Advocate.
“Never underestimate the power of silence,” Carolyn Alt, Concord, told the Laurel Advocate last week. “This is what’s making me sad. It’s creating friends against friends. In a small community, we can’t do that ... Unfortunately, if you let things slide too long, it becomes an avalanche and that’s where we’re at right now.”
Some community members raised the possibility of recalling the mayor, upset with not only how he’s handled issues with Hillcrest, but also the city’s water woes and electricity leasing with Cedar-Knox Public Power.
Knudsen has served two terms as mayor and ran unopposed in the last election.
County Clerk Jessica Schmit said an elected official cannot be recalled within six months after beginning their term of office.
“Residents are really hurting right now. There’s a lot of tension,” Alt said of both residents inside and outside of the Hillcrest Care Center.
Publicly, Laurel city officials have minimized Hillcrest’s financial woes, while at the same time an impassioned nursing home staff and community members have rallied in an effort to save it from closing.
A document circulated by Hillcrest staff last month detailed 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. The bills continue to go unpaid despite an increasing line of credit.
The city said the document circulated doesn’t give the full financial picture and didn’t include accounts receivable information. Instead - at that time in January - the city said Hillcrest’s working capital deficit is only $66,385.
“Banks don’t mind loaning money to the nursing home. They’ll give them more money and when it gets sold, they get their money first,” Logan Garber, Laurel, told the Laurel Advocate last week. Garber is a former mayor and city council member, and current Laurel business owner.
Wieck, as facility administrator, made decisions about which vendors got paid. As a result of non-payment, many vendors stopped doing business with the facility including staffing agencies and supply companies.
Alt said her interactions with Wieck were always pleasant and the work of Hillcrest staff, exemplary. She is the guardian for a resident who has lived at Hillcrest since 2023.
“The care at Laurel, I’ve not seen anything like that, even with all this turmoil, the staff is doing their best to provide to the residents,” she 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’s operations, governance and administration.
Recently, the city had been courting a potential buyer - Accura Healthcare, based in West Des Moines, Iowa. A tour of the facility and a meeting with staff took place Feb. 27, however, a week later the City of Laurel said the company was no longer interested in purchasing the facility.
Hillcrest employees and community members had expressed concerns about Accura’s reputation over quality of care, and alleged Medicare and Medicaid violations.
Kvols said it’s rare for a healthcare service to leave a rural community and be replaced by an equal or better service.
“We are in a special position in Laurel to have a critical access hospital 20 minutes away, a thriving EMS department, therapy services, a primary care clinic and a local pharmacy, in addition to the nursing home. Not many local communities can say that,” she said at the meeting Monday night.
Alt said she is keeping an open mind about any company interested in purchasing Hillcrest. Moving her resident to a different facility would be detrimental to his health and hinder her ability to be involved in his care.
“You can find something negative about anything,” she said. “I don’t know, I’m torn. A part of me, if a private company comes in, this would be resolved. The city would no longer have any oversight. The city hasn’t been doing a very good job of oversight and maybe it’s time for a change. On the other hand, I enjoy the fact that I know most of the people working there.”
