Rep. Mike Sylvia: Delegation not destroying, but supporting, county nursing home

To The Daily Sun,

What has become an oft-repeated piece of misinformation needs to be, once again, corrected. The false claim is that the county delegation is destroying the county nursing home.

The county nursing home has a recent "five star" rating, and the administrator is a national award winner of whom we are very proud.

The county delegation does not produce nurses. We appropriate money to pay nurses. Nurses are in very high demand because the supply is inadequate. There is a high level of competition to acquire these nurses.

If the county throws enough money into hiring nurses, we could take in new residents to fill all the available beds. But that would leave other nursing homes with fewer nurses and more unoccupied beds at those facilities.

The delegation has supported efforts to get training for nurses to upgrade their skills. It helps with the issue but it is a long, slow process.

I am proud of the work done by all our staff at the county nursing home. They have demanding jobs which they fulfill with grace. I'm also proud of our delegation, which balances the needs of the county with the ability of our property taxpayers to bear the burden.

Rep. Mike Sylvia

Belmont