nursing homes

The legislature was supposed to vote on whether to award the county land bank $825,000 toward purchase and destruction of the old Vestal Nursing Center.

On Thursday, the Broome County legislature agreed to hold over a resolution to give the land bank over $850,000 to purchase and demolish the deteriorating building.

Union nursing home workers at Corning Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare ratified a new labor contract earlier this month. The previous contract expired April 30.

The suit accuses Centers for Care, a company that runs nursing homes across the state, of financial fraud and neglect in four of its facilities. The company currently has a consulting contract with Broome County’s Willow Point nursing home.

The homes are turning away veterans due to lack of staffing.

"The housing situation is just so, so bad that people will live by the river rather than wait in the nursing home for an apartment to open up."

The jobs come with benefits and pay is higher than what many private home health agencies offer. But the county hasn’t gotten many applicants yet.

“There is no transparency here, with this contract."

The proposed agreement between Broome County and Centers for Care, a large health care company, has some legislators concerned.

As the pandemic continues to strain the nation’s health care workforce, the National Guard has increasingly been called on to bridge the gaps.