Heritage Management Inc. signed a 10-year lease last week to operate the Box Elder County-owned Pioneer Care Center in Brigham City.
The Salt Lake City-based company, which owns or operates 16 care centers in Utah, has managed Pioneer Care Center since July and paid employees since September.According to Heritage Management President Charles R. "Randy" Kirton, his company has spent the past three months at Pioneer collecting data to make its final lease proposal to the county. The nursing home's financial statements, crucial repairs and remodeling and employee wages have all been studied.
Saving the county money was the reason for the move, commissioners said. Under the Nov. 1 lease, Heritage will pay the county $40,000 per year for two years, starting immediately, then $168,000 per year, adjusted to reflect Medicaid income, for the remaining eight years of the 10-year lease.
In addition, Heritage will fund and make $120,000 in county-approved repairs and remodeling, not including an extensive roof-repair project, which is to be financed by county-initiated federal CDBG funds.
Transfer of operation to Heritage has involved extensive bureaucratic red tape, Heritage vice president Lewis E. Garrett told commissioners. The result, he added, will be a first-rate care center comparable to other local long-term care facilities.
Kirton added that efforts have been made to make the transition with as little disruption to Pioneer's operation as possible.
Intermountain Health Care recently signed a similar lease to operate the Box Elder County Nursing Home in Tremonton.