Palisades Healthcare has been making several infrastructure improvements, including a new a/c unit, new flooring, and a new community area patio. Palisades was taken over by EmPres Healthcare in February, and they started by updating the sign in the front. The lettering for the old sign was donated to a local collector.
Palisades Healthcare has recently been seeing several new updates.
When EmPres Healthcare Management took over from Welcov in February, the status of the nursing home was in a bit of an upheaval. Welcov had recently declared bankruptcy, and news was consistently being reported of several nursing homes in the state that were closing or near closing. Part of the reason that nursing homes in South Dakota were underperforming financially was due to a low Medicaid reimbursement rate, which had been steady while costs continued to rise approximately 6% per year.
As part of her first budget address in January, Governor Kristi Noem proposed raising reimbursement rates and the creation of grants that would be obtainable by nursing homes that innovate. According to Governor Noem, 19 nursing homes closed in recent years, including rural communities that can scarce afford to lose them, such as Tripp, SD, and Rosholt, SD.
In an op-ed published in the Argus Leader on March 15, Governor Noem wrote, “Nursing home closures impact real people: our parents, our grandparents. We all want our loved ones to be happy and comfortable as they age, and shuttered nursing homes mean disconnection from community, separation from family, and a disruption of comfort.”
