VALE – Officials say Pioneer Place, Malheur County’s lone nursing facility, may be forced to close if it doesn’t install a fire sprinkler system by the end of this year.
Pioneer Place officials went before Malheur County Court on Wednesday, Nov. 13, requesting $61,000 to install fire sprinklers to bring the facility up to Oregon fire code to maintain its state licensing. The court didn’t agree to release any money to help the cash-strapped nursing facility.
Court members – Judge Dan Joyce and Commissioner Jim Mendiola – declined to make an official decision. Commissioner Ron Jacobs was not at the meeting. In a subsequent interview, Mendiola said there is “no money to be had” for Pioneer Place.
Pioneer’s closure would mean nearly 40 residents would have to find other facilities outside the county for care and put 35 people out of work.
“If we don’t get this replaced, our building is going to shut down,” Corey Crismon, Pioneer Place’s chief executive, said during the Wednesday court session.
Crismon told the commissioners that Pioneer Place is the only skilled nursing facility in Malheur County, with the closest one being in La Grande.
Dennis Buttice, Pioneer board chair, said during the Wednesday court session that the skilled nursing facility in La Grande is not currently taking new residents.
Crismon said that’s why it’s “pretty important” to keep the Vale facility open.
A meeting of the Pioneer Place board has been scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 19. The board will consider its next steps, including seeking other funding.
The facility is operated by a public taxing district. Pioneer Place Health District covers 3,600 voters in nine voting precincts. The tax rate is 47.74 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.
Crismon said Wednesday that a wall separating the assisted living section and the skilled nursing – or nursing home – side is out of compliance with the state’s Fire Life Safety Code that governs skilled nursing facilities.
He said that last December, the life safety surveyor at Fire Life Safety Services, a department within the Oregon Department of the State Fire Marshal, gave Pioneer Place until Jan. 31, 2025, to come into compliance. Crismon said he filled out a waiver with the state agency to give Pioneer time to get back into compliance.
The state fire marshal approved it with the Jan. 31, 2025, deadline, according to Crismon. Pioneer faces daily fines that could be as high as $10,000 if it doesn’t comply.
He said the agency initially required improvements that would cost $400,000 but modified the requirement to bring down the cost.
The alternate plan resulted from a collaboration between Adele Schaffeld, the Malheur County building official, state Sen. Lynn Findley’s representatives, and the state agency.
An annual survey last fall by the Oregon Department of Human Services showed the fire wall at the facility needed to be replaced.
John Nalivka, Pioneer board member, told the Enterprise in January that the fire wall complied with state code when the skilled nursing facility was built in 2002. Buttice said the state fire marshal subsequently changed the state code that then required improved fire protection.
Crismon said Pioneer Place asked the county for a share of its federal pandemic relief funding. The county received $18 million from the federal government. Currently, about $9 million remains unspent.
Lorinda DuBois, county administrator, said Malheur County received $5,938,058 in funding as part of the American Rescue Plan. Signed into law in 2021, the funds are intended to help local governments recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic. DuBois said roughly $100,000 has not currently been obligated.
She said another $12 million came in because the county receives federal payments in lieu of taxes to offset losses due to the amount of federal land within the county. She said this money is for “governmental operations” and is for “revenue enhancement.”
DuBois told Pioneer officials during the county court meeting that the $61,000 request did not meet the criteria for how county funds can be spent.
Maintenance and repairs for Pioneer Place do not fall under a category for the rescue plan money, DuBois said. She said it also does not fall under “governmental purpose.”
The county doesn’t run the nursing home, according to DuBois. Mendiola pointed out that Pioneer Place is a taxing district that encompasses most of the northern part of the county. According to Mendiola, the county can only issue federal pandemic money to taxing districts owned by the county and that the county is mandated to provide.
For months, county officials have said they would set up a formal application process for access to the money. So far, that has not happened.
DuBois said she has given the county commissioners a template for an application, but they have not finalized it.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Mendiola read an email from Larry Wilson, a former county commissioner. Wilson told the commissioners that if they gave funds to taxing districts, they needed to craft criteria for all districts to apply. Wilson said that once the county starts handing out money to taxing districts, they open the door to others asking for such funding.
“If you go down this road,” Wilson said, “it is going to be difficult to say no to any other districts.”
Pioneer Place collects roughly $350,000 in property taxes annually, according to Mendiola. He also said that residents pay to stay at the facility.
Mendiola said he takes “full responsibility” for not being able to help Pioneer Place.
Schaffeld said the county helped by working with the fire marshal’s office and representatives from Findley’s office.
“It’s not like the county has not helped them,” she said.
DuBois said if Pioneer Place offered a service that the county is required to provide, the county likely would be able to do more to help the struggling facility.
In September, DuBois said, the county helped Treasure Valley Paramedics, a private ambulance service under contract to the county. She said the county is required to provide ambulance services. The county court approved a special $50,000 disbursement.
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury website, funds allocated to states cannot be used directly or indirectly to offset tax reductions or delay a tax increase. The money also cannot be deposited into a pension fund.
The money can be used to replace funds lost due to responding to the pandemic and recover from COVID-related closures and other economic hardships. The funds can also be invested in broadband, water and sewer infrastructures.
Over the last two years, the county has poured money into the stalled Treasure Valley Reload Center, being developed by a separate public company. Mendiola said comparing the requests for funding from the reload center to those from Pioneer Place is like comparing “apples to oranges” because of the taxing district aspect.
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