Edgewater Haven may convert a wing to assisted living

PORT EDWARDS, Wis. (WFHR / WIRI) – The Edgewater Haven nursing home in Port Edwards may see some changes coming around the end of 2026.

The county is exploring a plan to convert one wing of Edgewater Haven from full-time nursing care into assisted living, where residents receive help with daily activities while maintaining greater independence.

“ It kind of opens it up to more people. It changes the type of room you need, which to some extent looks a little bit more like an apartment when you’re all done,” says Lance Pliml, Wood County Board Chair, speaking with WFHR in December.

“But then you do have the ability to move into the skilled nursing areas if you’re gonna need that. And you’re at the same place.”

Pliml says this move would better serve the community and help keep families together.

He adds that the county has long determined that the nursing facility needs to be maintained. The board is expected to make a decision later this year.

“ We’re in a planning stage where we’re looking at, you know, how we can do that, how we can do it financially, make it fiscally responsible,” says Pliml. “And so I never know if those will pass when we get there.”

Nursing home bed tax drains resources when beds sit empty

Pliml told WFHR in November that while the full-time nursing care beds may be needed in the future, it’s not fiscally efficient now to be paying taxes on empty beds.

Established in 1991, Wisconsin care centers were required to pay a nursing home bed assessment per licensed bed. Beginning in 2010 that tax included all beds, occupied or unoccupied. These funds were intended to support nursing homes with Medicaid rate increases.

The nursing home bed tax in Wisconsin is $170 per licensed bed per month. Edgewater Haven Administrator Justin Cieslewicz tells WFHR they’ve dropped their number of licensed beds from 79 to 50. By doing that, Edgewater is saving $4,930 per month which equals $59,160 in savings per year.

Cieslewicz says looking at census numbers back to 2019, the facility has never exceeded 50 beds. By dropping the number of licensed beds down to 50, this helps the facility prepare to transition one wing to a Community Based Residential Facility (CBRF), also known as assisted living. 

Pliml said looking at the costs involved in this transition, it will be worth it to have more of the facility utilized instead of sitting empty and paying a tax on the empty beds.

“ That’s gonna be a cost. You know, we’re probably between two or $3 million, but believe it or not, it, as that rolls out, that’s much more cost effective and profitable than it is to have the nursing home beds that aren’t used,” says Pliml.

Planning ahead for the future

“ The easy stuff’s tomorrow. I need to plow the snow … or there’s a pothole. Those are the simple fixes, the easy ones, we go out and do it,” Pliml told WFHR in December.

“The toughest part is to look ahead five years, 10 years and say, what is it we’re gonna need at that point in time? And then how are we gonna fund it? So, you know, as a board, that’s kind of where we’re looking all the time.”

The next Wood County Board of Supervisors meeting is January 20th at 9:30am at the Courthouse.