Holmes County Home looks to increase revenue in 2026

To increase its revenue flow in the coming year, the Holmes County Home is ready to increase its current charges to residents.

Holmes County Home Executive Director Deb Miller met with the Holmes County Commissioners Thursday, Jan. 15, to discuss the need to increase rates to make up for the financial deficit.

“Looking at the numbers, we have to do something,” said Commissioner Dave Hall. “The carryover is eroding away. We’ve got to come up with something to take it to the next level and bring more residents in.”

Miller provided the commissioners with a breakdown of the number of current residents (27), along with a detailed analysis of information she had collected based on information from what other county homes in Ohio are charging residents for services and board.

She said they currently have three residents who are nonpay status, with the remainder of the residents paying full price or a portion of the cost.

She said if they would increase the current monthly shared-room rate from $1,638 to $2,000, increase the private room rate of $2,075 to $2,500 and the private room with bathroom rate from $2,500 to $3,000, it would generate an additional $77,000 in revenue.

“I heard back with rates from Carroll, Medina and Guernsey counties as far as what they are charging,” Miller said, noting that the adjusted increase in rates is in line with the rest of the counties.

“You have to take into consideration why they get that amount, and will we be able to get that amount,” Miller said.

Miller added that the last time the County Home had a rate increase was three years ago.

While the County Home does have rooms available and a waiting list, Miller said the issue is that most of the rooms available are on the second floor of the facility, where there is a limit on which residents they can room there because of physical limitations.

“We have folks hoping to come in who require more care,” Miller said. “We don’t have enough beds on our first floor, and that becomes a safety issue. That’s been one of the biggest battles.”

She added that prior to the pandemic, there was discussion about making major additions to the first floor and adding rooms, but that talk was tabled once COVID hit.

“The interest (in bringing on more residents) is still there, but the biggest issues are having an appropriate and safe place for them,” Miller said.

Miller noted that they currently have 10 bedrooms available upstairs for women, three for men and two more downstairs on the men’s side of the floor.

Commissioner Joe Miller said that with the continually rising cost of insurance taking a toll, the county must take a hard look at raising rates, and even with the suggested rate increase, the county would still be in line with most operations.

While Medicare and Medicaid do pay for physician care and medications, it does not cover the cost of monthly rates to stay at the home.

Asked if the Holmes County Home Auxiliary helps pay for any of the daily operational costs, Deb Miller said the group is designed to gift its money toward improving the lives of residents and needs, along with building and grounds improvements.

“The auxiliary can’t help fund boarding and daily operations,” Miller said. “Their job is to make this place more like home for the residents.”

Commissioner Miller said the role of the board right now is to solve the financial issue at hand.

“We can’t cure this right away, but we have to work toward solving it soon,” Commissioner Miller said.

Growing the revenue continued to be the biggest topic of conversation, and one possible solution that arose was to increase staffing to allow more residents to reside in the second-floor setting.

Deb Miller said that was a possibility that would require dividing the aid staffing.

Hall said bringing on more staffing could well open more possibilities on the second floor.

One thing both Deb Miller and the commissioners agreed on was that the proposed 4% raise across the board for employees would remain in place and is already factored into the budget for 2026.

Commissioner Miller said that he isn’t interested in making cuts, preferring to see the problems solved through appropriate growth, instead, because providing quality service continues be strong for the home.

Deb Miller said part of that equation has been the commitment to purchasing food products locally, not only to provide the freshest possible food but to support local businesses.

One other option discussed was the possibility of using the nearly 200 county-owned acres next to the facility for residential growth, something also greatly needed in Holmes County.

Joe Miller said pursuing developers to build residential communities there and lease the land to generate funds for the County Home would be ideal.

"We’ve got sewer and water there," Joe Miller said. "We have the land to add some inexpensive housing, and we would lease the land, and they wouldn’t have the cost of purchasing land. They would simply pay monthly, and the revenue would go to (the County Home).”

Building affordable housing there to create a monthly revenue stream is one option the commissioners said they would dig into further.

“Everyone I’ve talked to says it’s like home there,” Hall said of the County Home.

“Our staff is a big part of that,” Deb Miller said. “We’ve got a great group who are there for the right reasons, and they genuinely care.”

The board asked Miller for a written recommendation and made it clear that they were willing to act on finalizing the rate increase, which Deb Miller said would probably begin in March.