Holmes County Home resident count trending up
Updates like this one which included a new fireplace in the Holmes County Home’s general living area are done to create a higher quality of life for residents. One update on the horizon will be the introduction of a new TV provider to the residents.
With expenses and income looking strong and on par, Deb Miller, director of the Holmes County Home, is excited about making a push to fill more beds as 2024 draws near.
Miller met with the Holmes County commissioners Monday, Nov. 27 to discuss the state of the County Home and the direction she would like to see it take in the coming year.
Miller said the County Home has faced just over $100,000 in additional expenses compared to last year, which she said was expected with the rise in the cost of many items as well as salary increases, but they have also brought in an additional $81,000 in revenue thanks to increased real estate taxes and an increase in board and care.
She went on to note that the resident count continues to trend upward since falling drastically during COVID, and she is encouraged by the way the numbers are pointing.
“It’s pretty solid all-around,” Miller said. “Our staffing has started to level out although we are still looking for a nurse and a few aides, but overall, we have been faring pretty well in working the day-to-day operations.”
The 2023 Holmes County Home Auction brought in approximately $260,000, a slight increase from last year, and Miller said it takes a concerted effort by the staff, the Holmes County Home Auxiliary and the community to make it a success.
“Holmes County is a great place, and the support we see each year is evidence of that,” Miller said.
She added that the consistency of the auxiliary and the auction board remaining committed to the cause has been a reason to celebrate.
Miller said the hope is that they finish the year strong, and commissioner Dave Hall said, “It appears as though you’re trending in a very positive direction.”
One addition Miller and everyone else at the County Home is anticipating greatly is the installation of a new generator for the County Home, something that has been on tap for some time.
She said she is working closely with Holmesville Electric to flesh out a plan should the County Home suffer a power outage before the installation of the generator, but she has high hopes that it will be installed soon.
“We want to be certain that we aren’t in a position to where our residents are without power,” Miller said.
She said they experienced an expense of about $4,500 with the gas company repairing the ammeter, but they were expecting that expense in what she called a two-year project in the works.
The Holmes County Home Auxiliary will once again come through by covering the expenses of several projects in the coming year. Those include new bathroom renovations, an addition to the outdoor pavilion to create storage for the auction and the residents and an exciting venture into expanding television options for the residents.
“In the past, the residents have always provided their own televisions,” Miller said. “Our auxiliary is in a position where they can purchase all new televisions in conjunction with us switching our TV service provider.”
Currently, the County home is using Spectrum but will be moving to Retirement Home TV, a provider designed specifically for residents of retirement communities.
Miller said RHTV provides better services for the needs of their residents and will be more cost-friendly.
“They are a division of Dish Network,” Miller said. “This will be nice because it eliminates all of the cable boxes and comes with a TV and a remote, which makes it extremely easy for our residents. It’s also such a nice cost savings for us.”
In addition to providing content with plenty of channels, the County Home will have one channel dedicated to the home itself called a community channel, where it can add content such as daily menus, activity schedules, birthdays and other important information that residents can obtain readily through the channel.
“It’s one of the ways we want to make it more comfortable for our residents,” Miller said. “Plus, we have a few cosmetic projects that we will have coming up that will keep our residents comfortable and happy.”
With the new additions, Miller said the goal is to bring in more residents, upping it from the current number of 36. She said they have experienced an increase in day care and respite services and expect that trend to continue with the arrival of winter.
She said they do those as a service to the community and are doing them at a fraction of the cost of other sources.
She said they currently have a healthy waiting list and are now poised to be able to bring those residents into the family to get back to where they once were pre-COVID.