This story was produced and originally published by WPR and Wisconsin Watch.
Sauk County’s public nursing home will remain county-owned — for now. That’s after a resolution to begin closing the facility failed to advance to the full county board during a meeting last week that ended in chaos.
It was the latest twist during a relentless campaign by local residents to keep county control of services that have existed locally in some form since the 1800s. Heading into a special meeting Thursday, proponents of keeping the Sauk County Health Care Center public feared defeat.
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The Sauk County Board of Supervisors was expected to vote on a resolution to close the nursing home if it wasn’t sold. The meeting drew more than 80 attendees to the county board room. Several held signs, declaring “SAVE OUR SAUK CO. HEALTH CARE,” and “WE LOVE OUR SAUK COUNTY NURSING HOME.”
Instead, no vote took place, and the board adjourned the meeting within two minutes without allowing public comment.
Organizers yelled “shame on you” as board members left the room.
“You won,” County Board Chair Tim McCumber shouted at the chanting organizers. “The d— nursing home hasn’t been sold, and it hasn’t been closed.”
Tensions have escalated since last year, when the board approved selling the nursing home to the for-profit ARIA Healthcare. Opponents sued the county to halt the sale. The litigation and broader opposition prompted ARIA, which did not respond to a request for comment, to back out this month, according to Thursday night’s tabled resolution.
Board members supporting a sale say it’s the best way to keep the facility open as costs increased. Opponents argue the board should prioritize investing in the home, rather than risking inferior privatized care.
Wisconsin counties debate nursing home sales
Similar debates have unfolded in at least four other Wisconsin counties over the last two years. St. Croix County found new revenue streams to keep its nursing home public, while Washington County sold its facility to a private nursing home chain. Lincoln County approved a sale this month, and Portage County continues seeking buyers.
Wisconsin still maintains more county-owned nursing homes than most states, but that number has shrunk in recent years, concerning nursing home residents and their loved ones.
County-owned nursing homes tend to be better staffed, have higher quality of care and draw fewer complaints than facilities owned by for-profits and nonprofits, a 2024 WPR and Wisconsin Watch analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, shows.
Sauk County’s nursing home has a history of high care ratings, but those have recently slipped. Federal inspections between October 2024 and April yielded three “immediate jeopardy” citations related to patient care. Those citations, the most severe type, dropped the facility’s overall rating to “much below average,” CMS data show.
Meanwhile, the nursing home has struggled with staffing, losing 10 employees since May 23, including its director of nursing, Thursday’s resolution said. More expensive contractors, many from out of town, are filling in.
“We need to do everything to make sure that that facility is as successful as it used to be,” said Judy Brey, a leader of the citizen group suing the county.
Her group filled the board room Thursday night.
By tabling the resolution, the board preserved that status quo.
“It’ll be county-run until we have more patient care problems out there and the state intervenes, or we’re able to sell it,” said McCumber, who has had family stay at the facility.
While Thursday’s resolution had left room for ARIA or another company to buy the home before finalizing its closure, some board members — even proponents of a sale — were not comfortable voting to potentially close it, said Supervisor Terry Spencer.
Spencer, who favors a sale, sits on the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, one of three committees that met before the full board meeting and took no vote on the resolution.
“If it’s going to fail on its own, we’ll just let it fail on its own, and then we’ll close it,” Spencer said. “But I’d rather see it try than just say we’re closing our doors.”
Resident: Nursing home is ‘one big family’
Sauk County has operated a care facility in some form since 1871 — using it to treat diseases ranging from smallpox in the early 1900s to Alzheimer’s in the 1990s, according to the county’s website. About 50 people live in the facility today, including Robert Leopold, 84, who has been there about a year. He and two other nursing home residents came to the board meeting to speak out against a closure.
“We [nursing home residents] play cards, we have fun and it’s one big family,” Leopold, a retired teacher and longtime 4-H volunteer locally, said with tears in his eyes.
“If we have to go someplace else, we’re all going to be a family gone,” he added. “I just hope the board realizes what a beautiful facility they’ve got and be proud of it and do something with it.”
The meeting’s rapid adjournment left no opportunity for Leopold — who was attending his first board meeting during the nursing home debate — or others to publicly voice their perspectives. Brey and others shouted demands that the board allow public comment, pointing out that nursing home residents had travelled 30 minutes to be there.
McCumber responded: “Shame on you for dragging people out of a nursing home.”
“[Nursing home residents] showed up and they wanted to speak, but nobody gave them the chance,” Brey replied. “That is despicable.”
Sale falls through
While energized by Thursday’s outcome, residents are bracing for a future attempt to sell or close the home.
But McCumber said the county’s best option, ARIA, likely won’t buy the facility until what he calls a “frivolous” lawsuit is dropped or dismissed.
ARIA received board approval to purchase the facility in September, but the county still needed state approval. The Department of Health Services previously blocked ARIA from buying another nursing home, citing past citations the department said “demonstrate a history of noncompliance,” according to the Cap Times.
ARIA’s four Wisconsin nursing homes have federal ratings ranging from “much above average” to “much below average.”
The state ultimately approved the Sauk County purchase in May, but the lawsuit prompted ARIA to instead seek a leasing agreement with the county.
While the county board approved that arrangement, the state health department required additional approval, according to the resolution. The original state-approved sale plan required ARIA to take over the nursing home by July 1. Moving forward with a sale or lease after that deadline would require a new license application, which can take up to 60 days.
ARIA told county officials it no longer wished to continue due to misrepresentations of the company online and “unwarranted attacks” that could interfere with business operations and patient care, according to the resolution.
Asked about the potential for a future ARIA purchase of the nursing home, resident Mary Camp responded: “You don’t want to know.”
The 79-year-old has lived there for four years and described it as the “best place in the world.”
“I thought it was terrible they were going to sell,” Camp said. “I don’t think [ARIA is] going to buy it now. I don’t know. I hope not.”
Her favorite part about her home? The people. At least twice a day someone asks her how she’s doing, and “it’s fantastic,” she said. Her 56-year-old son lives there, too.
As they peer into an uncertain future, Brey said she has no plans to slow down her group’s work. As Thursday’s meeting ended, she collected donations for legal fees during a discussion about next steps, including potentially campaigning to recall board members who favored a sale.
“I feel the power of people being together and united on this,” Brey said. “They know we mean business.”
