The Herald-News - News Story

Rhea Medical Center finalized the sale of the county's nursing home operating license to Life Care Centers of America during an hour-long closing Tuesday.

The official transfer of ownership will take place at midnight on July 1.

Half a dozen representatives of Life Care, led by founder and chairman Forrest Preston, along with the administration and board of directors of Rhea Medical Center, met Tuesday afternoon at the medical center to sign the documents.

Life Care Centers of America is one of the nation's largest nursing home operators and is headquartered in Cleveland, Tenn.

"From the point of view of Rhea Medical Center and the citizens of Rhea County, I think this is an extremely momentous occasion," said Bill Porter, chairman of the hospital board. "It is a signal of things to come and very important for Rhea County."

Rhea Medical Center sold its right to operate the 89-bed Rhea County Nursing Home to Life Care for $1.5 million, with $1 million going to the medical center and $500,000 to the county general fund.

The Life Care contract includes a lease agreement of up to four years for the current nursing home facility for a minimum monthly rental of $29,000.

During this period, Life Care proposes to build a new nursing/skilled beds facility in Rhea County. That project will create up to 125 new jobs, officials said.

In addition to rent, the lease agreement requires Life Care to pay all real estate taxes, building insurance, operating and maintenance costs for the facility during its tenancy.

"The Rhea Medical Center Board is very proud of the quality of health care in Rhea County, our fine medical staff and employees," Porter said. "We were very proud of the work we did to build the new hospital and open it nearly two years ago.

"But, at the same time all that was taking place, we felt strongly that we needed to consider what course of action was in the best interest for Rhea County eldercare services and facilities provided at the nursing home and give serious and deliberate effort to that question. We wanted to find the right answer," he added.

"We felt that the Life Care organization, with its great depth of resources and reputation, would build upon the quality of services already provided by our staff and together achieve even greater benefits for our county."

A request to transfer the county's certificate of need to Life Care must be approved by the State of Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency, as well as other regulatory agencies, before the agreement is finalized. Preston said Tuesday that he expected that would take place in September.

The existing Rhea County Nursing Home houses approximately 75 residents. Life Care has proposed to double that capacity with the addition of skilled nursing services such as rehabilitation following surgical procedures.

Life Care hopes to have its newest nursing home under roof by the end of the year, although it hasn't purchased a site yet. Life Care is currently negotiating with Steve Dillard to purchase a 16-acre site at the north entrance to the Dayton Industrial Park, just a quarter of a mile from Rhea Medical Center.

The proposed $12-million facility still has several regulatory hurdles to overcome, but it overcame the first one Monday when the Dayton Regional Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend a zoning change for Dillard's property from industrial to a special residential zone.

The Dayton City Council is expected to act on the recommendation within the next two weeks.

"To be in Rhea County is somewhat of a dream," Preston said. "We're excited to be here.
We've been all the way out to Hawaii dand up through Washington, down through Arizona and out through Idaho to get to Rhea County for goodness sakes. It would look like we should have been here years ago, but here we are finally, and I'm anxious to get in and get going here. We're going to have a great time with these folks."

Life Care Centers of America operates more than 225 nursing home facilities in 28 states-from Massachusetts and Rhode Island on the Eastern Seaboard to as far west as Hilo and Kona, Hawaii.