Jefferson County officials are trying to provide $3 million to Carthage Area Hospital, to save an assisted living project being built just outside the village.

The plan is being formulated quietly, out of public sight so far, and because it would require several organizations to sign off, there is no guarantee the plan will work. An outline of the deal emerged in interviews over the last day, but It is so sensitive, no one contacted about the details of the deal was willing to attach his or her name to it publicly.

At the same time, Carthage Area Hospital is pursuing its own funding apart from the county, including possibly getting money from a state authority.

The county is interceding because Carthage Area Hospital has been unable to obtain the money it needs from banks. Carthage hospital is 'fronting' the construction money, and gets reimbursed by the state every three months. It needs money to cover the three month period.

The stakes are high: the Carthage assisted living project is tied to Samaritan Medical Center's new assisted living facility on Outer Washington Street. New York state funded the two projects together, and it is not clear what effect a failure in Carthage would have on the Watertown project.

There have been persistent rumors about the finances of the hospital in recent months; in an interview in August, Carthage Area Hospital CEO Walter Becker said difficulties with billing software had caused cashflow problems, though those problems were being straightened out.

In an interview Wednesday, Becker insisted the hospital's finances are not behind the funding problem.

"The hospital's financial issues and the funding for the assisted living facility are totally separate issues," he said.

The question, according to sources, was how far the hospital is willing to go to guarantee a bank would be repaid.

The deal does not involve Jefferson County providing additional money to the assisted living project; all along, the county had planned to contribute about $5 million.

What has changed is - Carthage will get more money, up front. Under one scenario, the county would now provide all or most of the money to Samaritan, which would in turn provide $3 million to Carthage, and Carthage would pay back Samaritan its share. 

There is also time left for the deal to be reshaped, with the money flowing to Carthage in other ways that would not involve the county, a source said. Another bank might participate, and the state Dormitory Authority could by part of the financing as well.

A Samaritan Medical Center official said the hospital has not been part of the negotiations so far, and as such can't comment.

As originally envisioned in the spring of 2010, a new facility on Outer Washington Street in Watertown would have room for 120 people in an 'assisted living' setting, and another 168 nursing home beds.

The Carthage end of the project - dubbed 'Meadowbrook Terrace' and located on Cole Road in the Town of Champion - would have room for another 60 'assisted living' seniors, and would employ 40 people.

The Carthage facility is due to be completed by November 2013.

Samples of our earlier coverage:

http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/Friday-New-Nursing-Home-Assisted-Living-Plans-Made-In-Carthage-Watertown-100136639.html

http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/Ground-Broken-for-Assisted-Living-Facility-133013133.html

- reported by Jeff Cole, Scott Atkinson, Brian Ashley & John Moore

 

 

 

 

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