JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Discussion over whether or not to approve of a new skilled nursing facility in St. Peters dominated the discussion of Monday’s Certificate of Need (CON) hearing.
The Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee approved of McClay Health and Rehab’s project by a narrow 5-3 vote, but not after nearly an hour of discussion highlighted by nearly a dozen parties opposed to the project.
Proponents of the new project argued that the 60-bed facility would provide Medicaid-certified beds, which offer more services depending on a state’s own Medicaid laws. Many potential patients may not qualify for Medicaid to pay for an assisted living facility, and not all nursing homes accept Medicaid as payment.
Many of the opposing parties were from nearby nursing homes, arguing that there was no verifiable need for another facility in the South St. Charles County and West St. Louis County area.
Most of those opposed came from within the 15-mile radius usually taken into account by the committee for a certificate of need. Supporters of the McClay plan argued that the Missouri River, which divides St. Charles and St. Louis Counties acted as a natural barrier that made the 15-mile radius ineffective in judging need.
Steve Lierman of StoneBridge Senior Living said that belief was unfounded.
“We have a lot of residents that have lived in St. Charles County and their residents go across the bridge,” he said.
Elizabeth Allen of Rancho Manor Health Care added that there was an additional staffing problem to consider with the creation of another facility.
“It does become competition in St. Charles County for CMAs [certified medical assistants] and nurses,” she said. “It is difficult to staff with the shortage we have in nursing schools.”
Larry Arthur, the president of McClay Health and Rehab, dismissed criticism as competitors.
“It’s a real shock to me when a new project is proposed you get opposition from competitors,” Arthur said sarcastically. “I’ve been in this business almost 40 years and everybody has available Medicaid beds when a competitor comes in front of you.
“We can leave the status quo and we can let the current providers provide them, well somehow patients aren’t choosing them. At some point, we need to say competition is healthy.”
All other agenda items were approved by the committee without much controversy. A full agenda can be found here.
The MHFR committee will also face an uncertain future in terms of its legislative members. Rep. Penny Hubbard has been an active member of the committee and her loss in a special re-do election to Bruce Franks Friday means she will not return to the committee. Sen. Mike Parson could also depart if he beats out former Congressman Russ Carnahan in their general election fight for lieutenant governor. If he loses, he still has two years left in his term as senator.
