— — Niagara County is getting out of the nursing care business and is prepared to accept a bid which would net Niagara County’s taxpayers $2.65 million.

 The Niagara County Legislature will hear proposals to privatize nursing care at the Community Services and Administrative Committees meetings at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the County Courthouse on Hawley Street.

The lawmakers are expected to act on a recommendation by County Manager Jeffrey M. Glatz and Public Health Director Daniel J. Stapleton to sell the county’s home healthcare certificate to Catholic Health. The proposal has been endorsed by Community Services Committee Chairman Tony Nemi, I-Lockport/Pendleton.

“We got out of the long-term healthcare business to save money. It was a loser for us,” County Chairman Bill Ross said. “It’s not only to save money, but make some money.”

The health department has the full-time equivalent of 12 employees who work out of the Shaw Building on the Mountview Campus and the Trott Center in Niagara Falls. There were about 20 full- and part-time registered nurses and home health aides. Some left through attrition.

Catholic Health Services will offer employment to all the employees. “Any of the nurses that don’t have a job, they will hire,” Ross said.

“It’s a big deal,” Stapleton said. “The health department will continue to thrive and focus on mission, which is protecting public health.”

Five competitors bid on the certificate, including Niagara Hospice which initially offered $3.7 million but dropped out. Catholic Health offered $2,600,000 and VNA offered $2,500,000 with a down payment of $250,000. Catholic Health made an immediate down payment of $795,000.

“It’s going out of the public hands of the county to save you and me money,” Ross said. “It will save money, because we won’t have those people on staff ... We are selling it. It’s a sellable item. We are looking at quite a bit of money.”

“We’re getting out of the businesses we shouldn’t be in,” Ross said. “Before we shut down Mount View, we were losing a million dollars a year.”

There are currently no bidders for the 75-year-old building on Upper Mountain Road.

“It used to be a money maker,” Nemi said of the nursing service. “With state aid going away, it’s operating in the red.”

“With declining reimbursement from the state, it was too much to stay in business,” Stapleton said.

Glatz, who was a nursing home administrator for Orleans County, has been the point man on the privatizing process and legislator Dennis F. Virtuoso of Niagara Falls debated Glatz at the last meeting of the legislature. Virtuoso feels that the legislators were left out of the process and wanted to be involved before a decision was made.

According to Nemi, several county lawmakers actively followed the process, reviewed the proposals and spoke with representatives of the two companies. VNA and Catholic Health representatives are expected to give an overview and answer questions, according to Ross.

Richard E. Updegrove, Lockport; Paul B. Wojtaszek, North Tonawanda; David Godfrey, Burt; Ross and Nemi represented the legislature on the committee.

“The ad hoc committee that reviewed these proposals was very impressed with the two top bidders,” Nemi said. “But, it’s clear that Catholic Health is offering the taxpayers of Niagara County the best value here ... I’m aware that one or two legislators don’t seem to have a firm grasp of this issue, and wanted to give them an opportunity to speak with the bidders.”

Catholic Health Home Care Services provides healthcare at the patient’s home for patients who have been discharged from a hospital who require additional assistance at home; individuals with medical conditions or physical challenges and people needing assistance with personal care. VNA is the largest home health agency in Western New York, servicing 24,000 patients annually.

“The first concern for the legislature has been, and remains, continuing to provide Niagara County’s citizens with the quality of care they deserve and are accustomed to,” Nemi said.  “Of equal importance, though, is meeting the legal requirement to sell a county asset — our operating license — to the highest bidder. Catholic Health is that bidder.”

The committees’ final recommendations will be forwarded to the full legislature, which will act on the recommendation Feb. 7. The process then goes to the state.