Former Commissioner’s President Disagrees With County Ownership Of Citizens and Montevue

FREDERICK, Md (DG)-This week Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner said the County will continue its ownership of Citizens Care and Rehabilitation and Montevue Assisted Living Centers under a settlement finalized on September 1st between the County and Aurora Holdings.

The former board of Frederick County Commissioners worked out a deal with Aurora to buy the facilities in 2014. Former Commissioner’s President, Blaine Young, feels the County should not own the nursing homes.

“The fact is this government shouldn’t be in the health care business. I think that we’re learning that at the national level with people wanting to overturn Obama Care,” Young said.

Gardener said if the sale would have gone forward—the county would not have come out ahead financially. Young disagrees and said Citizens and Montevue were costing the county significant money.

“We have lost tens of millions of dollars, as high as maybe sixty or eighty million dollars, maybe one hundred million,”

Gardner also said Aurora will operate the two facilities for the next 18-months.

“And obviously Aurora must be good at patient care because they’re going to be taking care of the patients now up to the next 18 months. Which my prediction is that they will be in there longer than that. This is just a ploy to kind of say that I’m taking it back and that someone else is going to run it because all we ever heard about was how bad Aurora was,” Young said.

Several County Council members would like to have a workshop to discuss the financial details of the agreement. They were told County staff will give a presentation about this deal at a future date.

By:  Dianah Gibson