Pioneer Home facing privatization push

In 1947, the Wyoming Pioneer Home was established in Thermopolis as an assisted living facility. Owned and operated by the Wyoming Department of Health, under the department’s Aging Division, the Pioneer Home has been home to countless seniors over the past 70 years.

The Pioneer Home and the Wyoming Retirement Center in Basin are both under the purvey of Tom Forslund, Health Department Director. Lisa Osvold is under Forsland as the Aging Division Director.

Funding cuts by the state put the Pioneer Home under intense scrutiny and the threat of privatization a few years ago, something that still looms over its halls.

The Pioneer Home itself has a budget from the State of about $2.3 million a year to pay wages for 30 local employees who provide services that range from medication assistance to nutrition therapy, balance and fall prevention and other essential health care services.

Senator Bruce Burns, the Republican senator from District 21 (Sheridan), is pushing the idea of privatization again because he is concerned the state is spending too much money on the facilities they oversee.

If one looks at the resident’s costs at the Pioneer Home, you will see they are considerably lower than they would be if the resident were to be in a privately run facility.

Monthly costs at the Pioneer Home are based on current assets, capping out at $2,400 per month.

Average costs for privately owned assisted living facilities is $3,900 per patient, per month. Wyoming falls among the most expensive states for long-term senior care.

Using the average income, per capita, of Hot Springs County residents at $24,025 per year, subtracted from the $46,800 ($3,900 x 12 months) per year cost of private assisted living, you will find a difference of $22,596 per year, an amount a majority of retirees in Wyoming do not have saved for their golden years.

Conversely, taking the high end of the costs at the Wyoming Pioneer Home ($2,400 x 12 months), $28,800, the difference in the cost per year a retiree would need to have saved for a year’s worth of expenses would be $4,776, a much more reasonable number.

Governor Matt Mead would like to see the budget for the Department of Health increased by $48 million this year and is against the privatization of the Pioneer Home.

Mead expressed his concern about the seniors in frail health being put on a bus and shipped to another facility, a solution he said is not a practical one in his mind.

In spite of the Governor’s wishes, the privatization issue is still in the hands of the legislators and Sharon Skiver, director of the Pioneer Home, as well as the Hot Springs County Commissioners have addressed the issue with legislators and interim committees on a regular basis.

The Joint Appropriations Committee, the committee that will be making a recommendation about the Pioneer Home to the legislature, is meeting through Friday, Dec. 15.

One thing everyone can do to help is to write or call your representatives for Hot Springs County and let them know how you feel about the possible privatization.

Nathan Winters may be reached via email at Nathan.Winters@wyoleg.gov or by phone at 864-3690. Wyatt Agar may be reached via email at Wyatt.Agar@wyoleg.gov or by phone at 921-8825.

Folks across the state are encouraged to call their legislators as well.