Nursing home remains in budget

By GINA KINSLOW
Glasgow Daily Times

FRANKFORT June 18, 2009 12:18 pm

— Money that could be used to replace the Glasgow State Nursing Facility on State Avenue in Glasgow is still in the budget, according to Rep. Johnny Bell, D-Glasgow.
Bell confirmed the money was still part of the state’s budget late Wednesday afternoon.
“The budget bill is being heard in committee. At this time it is still in the budget,” Bell said. “It seems like we are going to be able to keep it in the House. Everything right now looks like it’s a go, but I will say things up here right now are very tedious and anything could develop. I hope that does not change in the next 48 hours.”
It is possible the bill will be passed out of the House and go to the Senate for consideration at the end of the week.
A spokesperson for the Kentucky Cabinet for Family and Health Serv-ices confirmed last week that $2 million in bond funding was to be included in the budget bill for the replacement of the nursing facility, which has structural issues.
A masonry project conducted in 2004 revealed the building has some structural issues and state officials have struggled over the last couple of years to come up with the money that would fund building repairs.
The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services requested bond authorization for a capital project to replace the nursing home during the 2009 General Assembly session, but the money was not appropriated. Instead, there was language in the budget bill that directed the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to develop and submit a plan to the Legislative Research Commission on Dec. 1, 2008 relating to the replacement of the nursing facility.
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services submitted the report and stressed its recommendation was to construct a replacement facility on the nursing home’s current grounds.
Sen. David Givens, R-Greensburg, said last week that he is excited the project is moving forward and said state legislators “are certainly still open to all options of providing the best care for the least cost while maintaining the facility in Barren County.”
It will cost an estimated $18 million to build a new structure to house the nursing facility. When Givens and Bell spoke to members of the Glasgow-Barren County Chamber of Commerce in April, Bell explained that the building’s structural issues stem from a lack of rebar in the concrete.