Orchard Manor shows problems with switch to private ownership

Editor:

Currently the Orleans County Nursing Home, The Villages, offers quality care to its residents. Selling it to a private corporation could jeopardize these high standards. This appears to be the case with a recent controversy at Orchard Manor Nursing Home in Medina.

In a recent article, Aaron Lichtman, a spokesperson for Orchard Manor, implies that resident care comes first. In the same article, a local doctor who wishes to remain anonymous refutes this opinion. The doctor states that what “led to his departure (from practicing at the facility)… is a decline and deficiency on quality of patient care issues.”

Citizens of Orleans County, it is our obligation to maintain quality care for the residentsof The Villages. There is no guarantee that this will happen if it is sold to a private corporation. One objective I have, if elected to the Orleans County Legislature for District # 2, is to investigate all possibilities of saving the county nursing home for now and for future generations. A do-over is not possible if it should be sold.

Linda Rak
Lyndonville

(Rak is a candidate for Orleans County Legislature. She has been endorsed by the Conservative Party and also is running under the independent “Save Our Nursing Home” line.)