Non Winnebago County residents welcome at River Bluff nursing home

Oct. 26--ROCKFORD -- Less than half of the 304 beds at River Bluff Nursing Home are filled. That is expected to change now that out-of-county residents are welcome.

The Winnebago County Board unanimously approved the nursing home's request Thursday to start accepting out-of-county residents with an understanding that in-county residents will continue to be given preference.

As of Friday, 140 beds were occupied in the county-owned North Main Street senior citizen facility.

"Although we are licensed for 304, a more realistic number of the amount of residents we could take would be about 270," said River Bluff Administrator Patricia McDiarmid. "Equipment is much larger these days than it was when the building was built so at times we cannot use a semiprivate room for two residents due to equipment needs."

River Bluff went through an extended period of not accepting residents after the coronavirus outbreak began. The facility started accepting patients again on Oct. 1.

Angie Goral, D-13, a member of the nursing home's advisory board, said it is common practice for county-owned nursing homes to take in out-of-county residents, something she said River Bluff should have been allowed to do a long time ago.

"We have to remember we are in a changing world right now," she said. "We have parents and relatives who have retired to other states. Now they have become ill or lost a partner and they want to come back. ...

"This will open it up so that people can bring back their loved ones."

Before the policy change, would-be residents were required to have lived in Winnebago County for the previous 12 months to be considered for acceptance.

McDiarmid anticipates a predetermined number of beds will be made available for out-of-county residents to help assure that there are beds available for in-county residents.

Walnut Acres, a Stephenson County nursing home, made the decision earlier this month to partially evacuate its facility after 15 residents and four staff members contracted COVID-19, a respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. Staff at the nursing scrambled to relocate 51 uninfected residents either with family or another nursing home.

McDiarmid said River Bluff was asked if it could take in up to 30 residents. She said her hands were tied.

"So even in an emergency situation I could not help out another county nursing home to place its people," McDiarmid said moments before the board voted to change its out-of-county resident policy.

The decision to accept out-of-county residents was made not only for humanitarian reasons, but for financial reasons, too. River Bluff has been operating in the red for several years.

The private pay cost of a resident for a single room is $250 per day. The private pay cost for a semiprivate room is $200 per day.

The rate of pay for patients receiving Medicare or Medicaid is determined by the state and federal government. Exactly how much money the agency hopes to take in by accepting out-of-county residents has not been determined.

"It is difficult to answer how much revenue will be received based on accepting out-of-county residents," McDiarmid said. "I would say that at least one-third of our inquiries are from out of county residents. Usually from collar counties around us.

She added, "Not every inquiry is a resident that we can accept depending upon their diagnosis and needs. We have to assure that we can meet their needs based on our staff's expertise, training and physical plant restrictions. But, if we are able to accept even 50 % of these residents, it should help us reach our census goals much quicker."

Chris Green: cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen

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