Facility seen as key to county senior campus may need cost cutting
By DAN BENSON
Ozaukee Press staff
Ground should be broken by next summer on the new community-based residential facility, or CBRF, at the Ozaukee County-owned Lasata Senior Living Campus in Cedarburg, county supervisors were told recently.
But with about 30% of the design phase completed, the project looks like it’s over the $4.5 million budget, County Administrator Jason Dzwinel told the Health and Human Services Committee, which oversees the project.
The main reason was the decision to attach the new 21-bed facility to Lasata Crossings, a 60-unit assisted living operation, causing issues in dealing with utilities and access.
“The shift in location cost us about half a million dollars,” Dzwinel said.
He said that as the design moves along, officials will see where costs can be cut.
“The site has imposed some additional costs. But we will be going back to reprioritize,” he said.
Officials have said development of a CBRF is vital to maintaining a county nursing home without it being a drain on taxpayers.
The county has set aside $4.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to finance construction of the facility, which officials say is necessary to close the continuum of care loop at Lasata.
The campus loses a number of residents each year because Lasata lacks a facility to provide the services that would be offered through the CBRF.
Officials envisioned an 18,000-square-foot facility with 24-one-bedroom units to offer memory care and other services, generating $150,000 to $450,000 in additional revenue for the Lasata Senior Campus.
That’s been changed to 21 units, two of which would be two-bedroom units.
“Two-bedroom units are much more marketable,” Dzwinel said.
One unit was eliminated to create a connecting hallway between the CBRF and Crossings so the kitchen in the assisted living facility can serve the CBRF.
“Moving it (next to Crossings) will improve operations and service,” Dzwinel said.
The design calls for a separate entrance and a southern-facing patio with “greenscaping” and a green roof that would help shield rooftop mechanical equipment.
“It will be a real nice outdoor space,” project consultant Andy Klimpel of Altius Building Co. said.
Inside, rooms would be heated with in-floor radiant heat. Each room would have individual temperature controls.
Dzwinel said landscaping and in-floor radiant heat might be things to look at when it comes to cutting the budget.
“We have to get to a baseline budget,” he said. “These are things maybe we could add later after we make some money.”
In addition to Crossings, the campus includes Lasata Care Center, a 106-bed skilled nursing facility and Lasata Heights, a 60-unit building for independent seniors.
The Lasata Senior Campus is an enterprise fund meant to support itself without tax levy support and perhaps even turn a profit to pay for maintenance and make improvements.
Without the CBRF, Dzwinel has predicted property taxes would have to be used to keep the senior campus operating.
Most Wisconsin counties have gotten out of the nursing home business because Medicaid, a federally funded program administered by the state for low-income residents, does not fully reimburse counties for their costs.
But county officials determined years ago, when there were few skilled nursing facilities in the area, that a nursing home is an important service to provide to county residents.
To offset the cost, Lasata’s business model calls for drawing more Medicare and private-pay residents to the Heights, Crossings and the proposed CBRF.
About 60% of the Care Center’s residents are on Medicaid.
Officials estimate about half the beds in the CBRF would be filled with residents from other Lasata facilities, freeing space in those buildings, while the other half would probably come from outside Lasata.
A market study conducted in 2023 showed “significant demand” for such a facility in years to come with rooms priced between $6,000 and $6,500 a month.
The project has to pass muster with the City of Cedarburg. A first meeting with the city’s Plan Commission will happen in January.
Once those approvals are cleared and the design is finalized, the project will go out for bid in March.
“The bid environment is getting better,” Klimpel said.
He said construction should take about 10 months.
“The site selection delayed us but things have moved pretty smoothly,” Klimpel said.
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