Strafford County Commissioners 4:58 a.m.
Monday, April 6, 2026 5:00 am
|
To the residents of Strafford County:
News clips taken out of context can frequently lead to misunderstanding.
When you have a 90-minute meeting that is condensed into a 90-second or less news presentation, the entire story cannot be presented. The history of Strafford County Hyder House operation is a long and complicated story.
Suffice it to say, there were 3 previous operators of the facility who gave up the operation due to financial concerns. The County took over its operation by default with unanimous support of the County Delegation when no other licensed hospice agency had shown any interest in operating it. We implemented a plan different from the previous operators so that Hyder could operate at a breakeven point or operate at a small loss.
That plan worked for several years until the healthcare system changed during the Covid health crisis. Our census at Hyder has steadily declined over the last few years while costs for staffing, medications, and general operations increased. The costs to operate Hyder were rolled into the cost to operate Riverside Rest Home leading some Legislatures to believe Riverside's losses to operate were much larger than reality.
Please understand that the failure in Hyder's operation was no fault of the wonderful staff that operated it and that they provided amazing care to the most challenging end-of-life clients. It's a product of changes to the healthcare system which Strafford County can no longer afford to subsidize. We all feel these changes which can be personalized by any of us trying to get an appointment to see our own doctor and/or specialist. While timing is not the same issue, it is reflective of the dysfunction that exists in the current healthcare system. When the Strafford County Delegation failed to pass a County operating budget, it was a surprise to us as each of the four subcommittee meetings and the Executive Committee meeting ended with an approval of the Commissioner's Proposed Budget.
In the 10-day period from Executive Committee approval to the final vote by the Delegation on March 4th, without any intervening event, votes changed from yes in support to no (disapproval). While the expense portion of the Commissioners' Proposed Budget passed by default (RSA 24:14), a large portion of our revenue budget (approximately 19%) was challenged by the Delegation due to our boarding of a portion of our ICE detainees. This is a $9 million revenue item. In March, after the very well-publicized Delegation meeting, our ICE population began to decline.
This forced us to review all of our operations to make difficult decisions regarding the expenditures to account for our loss of boarding revenue. There are equal ramifications from the Delegation not supporting the Commissioners proposed revenue as there are to the Delegation not supporting proposed expenses. Expenses and revenues must be in balance or county finances fail, as recognized by Moody's bond rating drop from A3 to BAA2. We want to assure everyone that as budgets are challenged, our County services will be maintained to the very best of our ability.
The quality of care at Riverside will not be affected, but changes are necessary. The actions the County Commissioners are taking in trimming expenses is to ensure that we will not be "broke."
GEORGE MAGLARAS, Chairman
LESLIE A. FELICIANO, Vice Chair
SEAN M. LEAVITT, Clerk