Mercy advised to close

The state Department of Health has recommended closing Mercy of Northern New York, 218 Stone St., by Sept. 16, but area health-care agencies and political officials are trying to buy time until a long-term solution is found.

Jeffrey Hammond, department spokesman, said the department's recommendation to close the facility was based on Mercy's "overall financial situation, and the lack of a plan by management to make the facility become financially viable." Department representatives are at the site monitoring the health and safety of patients, he said.

There was a plan, however, attached with Mercy's application to the state Department of Health for a Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers, or HEAL NY, grant. Mike S. McCoy, an administrator at Mercy, said that since award announcements are not expected until Sept. 30, it is unclear what will happen with Mercy's application for $35 million, which would have helped make the facility more financially stable.

"Maybe we ran out of gasoline a little too early," he said.

Mr. McCoy said he did not know how far in debt the facility was, but admitted it has had financial issues for many years. Mercy most recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2005. It now is being operated by a receiver; a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge removed the company from bankruptcy protection in November 2008.

Healthcare Associates, Lake Katrine, which is Mercy's parent company, also has yet to pay the past several months' worth of health insurance contributions and pension payments for its employees.

The Department of Health recommended the facility's closure a few days after a federal tax lien against Mercy held up employees' paychecks. Mr. McCoy said the facility had funds last week to pay its 300 employees, but it could not get money transferred to the correct account. Therefore, employees could not cash their paychecks Aug. 27.

Communication with political officials paid off, he said, as Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, secured assistance from the Internal Revenue Service.

"The IRS did release the lien on their bank accounts, at least part of it for payroll to be met," Mr. Owens said. "This is an interim step for Mercy to negotiate a potential buyer, and their lenders and the state to come to a final resolution which we hope will be maintenance of the facility."

There has been a handful of other occasions in which employees' paychecks have bounced, according to Mark A. Tavani, who is a home health aide through the organization.

"You work all week long — 40 hours a week — and it's a continuous fight to get your check cashed," Mr. Tavani said. "Three or four months ago, I got my check put into my account, and it bounced. It took me another week and a half to get my money out of this place."

'ORDERLY TRANSITION' SOUGHT

Mercy, which is composed of a 224-bed nursing home facility and several outpatient services, will submit a closure plan for the state's review and approval. Mr. Hammond said the Department of Health's top priority "is to ensure an orderly transition of services for residents."

If the facility closes within two weeks, Mercy will need to find its residents new homes, which most likely will be outside Jefferson County.

"If we're not successful with our local health providers we're working with, we're preparing for the discharge of our residents, and we'd have to poll people to see facilities that can take admission," Mr. McCoy said.

A short-term solution will not fix the soon-to-be long-term problem, according to Krista A. Kittle, Samaritan Medical Center spokeswoman.

The ideal situation, she said, is to wait until the HEAL NY grant application awards are announced later this month. Jefferson County and several partners, including Samaritan, submitted a $34 million application Aug. 25 that calls for construction of two new long-term-care facilities in the county.

"We'd like to buy ourselves enough time until we can construct those facilities in order to keep residents in Mercy here close to their families," Ms. Kittle said.

In the spring, Samaritan officials traveled to Albany to meet with long-term-care officials to offer receivership of Mercy. Ms. Kittle said that would allow Samaritan to operate Mercy until a permanent solution could be developed.

If Mercy does close, it will be the second such nursing home to close in Jefferson County within the past year. River Hospital, Alexandria Bay, recently closed its 27-bed skilled-nursing unit.

HOPE REMAINS

While the state wants the facility shut down, Mercy and several community partners are scrambling to find ways to keep it open.

"We're not giving our hope up on Mercy being here, because the folks need the long-term-care beds," Mr. McCoy said.

Mr. McCoy said he, Mr. Owens, a state Department of Health official and area politicians took part in a conference call Thursday to discuss the situation. Mr. McCoy said the meeting's outcome was not supposed to be discussed until after the Labor Day holiday weekend.

"I was assured it would be kept confidential," he said, as he chuckled.

Ms. Kittle said Samaritan again extended its receivership offer during that conference call, but it is unclear where that idea stands with the state.

State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, who initiated Thursday's conference call, said discussions will continue after the holiday weekend.

"We've got a chance to possibly keep Mercy in some capacity open until we can get to the long-term solution," he said. "We want to exhaust every option; the window of opportunity is small."