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Your Right to Know: Sale shows why transparency matters [1]

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Date: 2024-10-01 17:00:25+00:00

Reading Time: 3 minutes

On Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Sauk County Board voted to spend $40,500 to buy a sheriff’s department vehicle to replace one totaled in a July incident. The resolution printed on the agenda included details of the incident, the car dealer and a fiscal note explaining that the money would come from insurance accounts.

This display of transparency happened one week to the day after the same county board approved contracts to sell the county-owned nursing home to a private entity. That agenda stated the board would meet in closed session to discuss the sale. It did not name the buyer or include the sale price. While the buyer was disclosed in the 45-minute public discussion following the closed session, the sale price was not. The $5.1 million price was revealed the following day in an attachment to a press release. There was no fiscal note on the agenda.

A note might have explained why the county accepted an offer $3.4 million less than the $8.5 million sought when it first marketed the nursing home, which has 48 residents. Nor did the county explain why the price was so much less than the $19 million value for which the county insures the nursing home. All these numbers are from records I obtained.

The December 2023 resolution that started the process included as a condition: “The potential buyer shall demonstrate a history of 5-star care ratings in the senior health care industry.” That was the county nursing home’s rating at the time.

Medicare’s star system for rating nursing homes is based on regular inspections and citation history. Five-star is much above average, 4-star is above average, 3-star is average, 2-star is below average and 1-star is much below average. The buyer, Aria, operates three nursing homes in the north Milwaukee suburbs that currently have one- and two-star ratings.

Jeff Seering (Provided photo)

The five-star condition was interpreted by most as meaning that the county would seek a private buyer with a history of high-quality care similar to that provided by the county nursing home, which had a 5-star rating in December 2023. That was the county’s official public position concerning the sale, up until Sept. 10, when the board voted to approve the sale to Aria. In the Sept. 10 motion that passed, all of the conditions in the December resolution were superseded by the sale contract.

Between December and September, the board held two closed-session meetings. The only information that came out of those meetings was that the county had chosen to negotiate with a single interested buyer, whose name was kept secret, though it leaked out in late July. A petition drive collected 1,300 signatures opposing the nursing home sale that were presented to the county.

After numerous citizens expressed dismay about Aria’s care rating in public comment on Sept. 10, the board met in closed session with an Aria representative, which was said to be reassuring. After the board came back into open session, one board supporter of the sale turned to the audience and said, “I really wish you could have all been here for the meeting.”

Yes. The audience — made of citizens and taxpayers and people with loved ones in the home — would also have liked to hear the presentation. That this was not allowed was typical of the entire process, in which the public was given less information about the sale of the home for 48 Sauk County residents than it was about replacing a damaged squad car.

Why is the state’s tradition of open government important? Just ask the citizens of Sauk County, who have been treated as though it isn’t.

Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a group dedicated to open government. Jeff Seering, a retired journalist, is a Sauk County resident.

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If we send you a request to change or remove Wisconsin Watch content from your site, you must agree to do so immediately. *** Also, the code below will NOT copy the featured image on the page. You are welcome to download the main image as a separate element for publication with this story. *** You are welcome to republish our articles forusing the following ground rules. For questions regarding republishing rules please contact Jeff Bauer, digital editor and producer, at [email protected] Your Right to Know: Nursing home sale shows why transparency matters <h1>Your Right to Know: Nursing home sale shows why transparency matters</h1> by Jeff Seering, Wisconsin Watch October 1, 2024 On Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Sauk County Board voted to spend $40,500 to buy a sheriff’s department vehicle to replace one totaled in a July incident. The resolution printed on the agenda included details of the incident, the car dealer and a fiscal note explaining that the money would come from insurance accounts. This display of transparency happened one week to the day after the same county board approved contracts to sell the county-owned nursing home to a private entity. That agenda stated the board would meet in closed session to discuss the sale. It did not name the buyer or include the sale price. While the buyer was disclosed in the 45-minute public discussion following the closed session, the sale price was not. The $5.1 million price was revealed the following day in an attachment to a press release. There was no fiscal note on the agenda. A note might have explained why the county accepted an offer $3.4 million less than the $8.5 million sought when it first marketed the nursing home, which has 48 residents. Nor did the county explain why the price was so much less than the $19 million value for which the county insures the nursing home. All these numbers are from <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25172172/records-09052024.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">records</a> I obtained. The December 2023 resolution that started the process included as a condition: “The potential buyer shall demonstrate a history of 5-star care ratings in the senior health care industry.” That was the county nursing home’s rating at the time. Medicare’s star system for rating nursing homes is based on regular inspections and citation history. Five-star is much above average, 4-star is above average, 3-star is average, 2-star is below average and 1-star is much below average. The buyer, Aria, operates three nursing homes in the north Milwaukee suburbs that <a href="https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/results?searchType=NursingHome&page=1&query=Aria&city=Milwaukee&state=WI&zipcode=53225&radius=10&sort=closest&tealiumEventAction=Result%20Page%20-%20Search&tealiumSearchLocation=search%20bar&tealiumSearchInputType=manual%20search%20term" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">currently</a> <a href="https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/details/nursing-home/525490?city=Waukesha&state=WI&zipcode=53186" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">have</a> one- and two-star ratings. <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-full"><img src="https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Jeff-Seering.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1298402" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Jeff Seering (Provided photo)</figcaption></figure> The five-star condition was interpreted by most as meaning that the county would seek a private buyer with a history of high-quality care similar to that provided by the county nursing home, which had a 5-star rating in December 2023. That was the county’s official public position concerning the sale, up until Sept. 10, when the board voted to approve the sale to Aria. In the Sept. 10 motion that passed, all of the conditions in the December resolution were superseded by the sale contract. Between December and September, the board held two closed-session meetings. The only information that came out of those meetings was that the county had chosen to negotiate with a single interested buyer, whose name was kept secret, though it leaked out in late July. A petition drive collected 1,300 signatures opposing the nursing home sale that were presented to the county. After numerous citizens expressed dismay about Aria’s care rating in public comment on Sept. 10, the board met in closed session with an Aria representative, which was said to be reassuring. After the board came back into open session, one board supporter of the sale turned to the audience and said, “I really wish you could have all been here for the meeting.” Yes. The audience — made of citizens and taxpayers and people with loved ones in the home — would also have liked to hear the presentation. That this was not allowed was typical of the entire process, in which the public was given less information about the sale of the home for 48 Sauk County residents than it was about replacing a damaged squad car. Why is the state’s tradition of open government important? Just ask the citizens of Sauk County, who have been treated as though it isn’t. Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (<a href="https://wisfoic.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wisfoic.org</a>), a group dedicated to open government. Jeff Seering, a retired journalist, is a Sauk County resident. This <a target="_blank" href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/10/wisconsin-open-government-sauk-county-nursing-home-your-right-to-know/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://wisconsinwatch.org">Wisconsin Watch</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://wisconsinwatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1298398&ga4=G-D2S69Y9TDB" style="width:1px;height:1px;"><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: "https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/10/wisconsin-open-government-sauk-county-nursing-home-your-right-to-know/", urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id="parsely-cfg" src="//cdn.parsely.com/keys/wisconsinwatch.org/p.js"></script> Copy to Clipboard

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