The detritus indicating the sad demise of the former Champaign County Nursing Home last year. Photo by Farrah Anderson for CU-CitizenAccess, used by permission
When my eighty-nine-year-old friend survived her bout with fungal pneumonia after spending nearly a month in the hospital, we were ecstatic. Her outcome had not always seemed certain, and we were delighted that she was on the path to recovery. But the length and severity of her acute episode had taken its toll. She had lost 40 pounds and much of her strength, and she needed to be on oxygen constantly if she was going to leave the hospital.
As staff prepared her for discharge, they told her she would need to undergo rehabilitation and should go to a skilled nursing facility for this care. They also told her there was nothing available for her in Champaign-Urbana and she would need to go to Gifford or elsewhere. For my friend, whose likewise eighty-nine-year-old husband of more than sixty years could no longer drive, this meant she would not see him frequently if at all while she stayed 30 miles from home for an indefinite period. Not only would this affect her mental and physical health, it would also likely affect his. And it meant she would have no family member at the facility to help her in making health-care decisions.
This is the story being retold by many facing this situation in Champaign County. About a year ago, a local grassroots group came together over concerns about the availability of long-term care, skilled nursing, and rehabilitation beds in Champaign County. They and their friends were finding the same problems getting placement locally as my friend experienced. They organized as Advocates for Aging Care (AAC) and set out to determine how extensive the problem was and what might be done to address it.
The first step was to look at the availability of beds. Within the past few years three nursing homes were closed in the county—including the single largest facility, University Rehabilitation Center, the former Champaign County Nursing Home. These three closures represented a loss of 463 licensed skilled nursing beds. Skilled nursing beds are used by patients when they are discharged from hospitals but still in need of significant health-care services and rehabilitation. They also serve people who have health issues that require continual care and prevent them from living safely in their homes. During that same time Clark-Lindsey made the decision to downsize their skilled nursing facility, shrinking from 104 beds to 49. The impact of all of this was significant. In checking the Illinois Department of Public Health inventory, it showed that Champaign County was projected to need 738 beds by 2026, and the county only had 411 beds—a shortage of nearly 55 percent! This at a time when the rest of the state was experiencing an excess of beds.
The next step was to initiate a needs assessment to confirm what issues the older population was facing and how much of a factor long-term care is. AAC went to the Champaign County Board and asked for financial support to do a county-wide needs assessment. The Board agreed and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) was engaged to conduct the assessment.
The results have been illuminating. Not surprisingly, the survey results confirmed there was a need. More surprising, it depicted an urgent need and a problem accessing services for a growing older population in our county.
CUPHD developed two surveys, one for consumers and one for providers of health care. It targeted the needs of older residents and family members.
According to the study by CUPHD, Champaign County witnessed a population surge of 14.6 percent from 2000 to 2020, surpassing Illinois’s overall growth rate of 3 percent. The study reported the 60+ population in Champaign County grew by 67 percent.
Also surprising was the enthusiastic response by the older population to take the survey. CUPHD estimated they needed 350-400 surveys for reliable results. But more than 880 older citizens or caregivers completed the survey. Of those older adults who found themselves in a long-term care, rehab, or skilled nursing facility, 70 percent said they experienced difficulty in securing placement. The leading problem in securing placement was “lack of facilities,” identified by 80 percent of those responding to that question.
When asked what services were lacking in our community for older adults, skilled nursing services was the most frequent response—by 51 percent of all respondents. Nursing home lack of services was identified by 46 percent of the respondents. Two of the top three gaps identified were related to long-term care. The other gap identified was in-home care and support.
The implications of this critical shortage are obvious for the patients needing this level of care: lack of availability; lack of choice; having to go out of the county, at a distance from their preferred health-care organizations; and isolation from their families and friends.
There is also a significant financial implication for the county. Millions of dollars are spent on this level of care that could be going to our local economy. All of that is lost as patients are forced to go outside the county. Anecdotally, AAC learned that the lack of services is sometimes a recruiting problem for employers, especially those hiring international personnel who frequently bring family and elderly parents with them.
At the same time the AAC initiated the survey, they recognized that addressing the issue would take a community-wide effort. They brought together a community collaborative of stakeholders, including Carle Health, Christie Clinic, OSF Health, three different departments at the U of I, Parkland College, Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, Champaign County Health Care Consumers, Community Foundation of East Central Illinois, and United Way. For the past year, this group has been meeting regularly to identify the issues, gather data, and explore solutions.
The collaborative effort led to the current phase of the project: bringing in experts to quantify the need and help explore possible solutions. The community collaborative sent out a request for proposals, and four organizations responded with a proposal to do a market study. The group selected Greystone, a national consultant focusing primarily on not-for-profit projects. Greystone recently made a site visit to Champaign County, interviewed providers, and gathered data with the goal of issuing a report in late July. The report will use industry standards, the county’s demographics, the findings gathered from interviews, and other data to develop a specific estimate of the need for beds.
Once the market study and needs assessment are completed, the group will begin looking at the possibility of developing a business plan to share with potential owners and operators. AAC is now in the process of fundraising to support the development of the business plan that will be needed to demonstrate the viability of the market to prospective owners.
It is time for the infrastructure and planning for these services to occur. Collaborative efforts need to address not only the current shortages but focus on innovative, quality solutions for everyone, creating a community that adequately serves its older adults.
For those interested in learning more about the Advocates for Aging Care and to access the Champaign County Needs Assessment results, please go to www.advocatesforagingcare.org.
Cathy Emanuel is retired from working in health care, where she led business development, strategic planning, and marketing efforts for 40 years for local health care organizations, including both hospitals. She is a member of the Advocates for Aging Care.
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