Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Attorney Vows To Continue Nursing Home Battle

Owners of Gurdon's Pineview Nursing Home were officially granted permission to move the facility to Arkadelphia.

The Arkansas Health Services Commission, meeting Tuesday, July 16, approved the move during a hearing. Additionally, the commission reversed a former decision which would have kept a nursing home in a small town in Phillips County, allowing it to move to a larger city as well.

According to Rick Donovan, the Rose Law Firm attorney representing Beverly Enterprises, Inc. of Arkansas, who opposed the move, this reversal was done so the panel would be consistent when it denied keeping Pineview in Gurdon.

"It was a bad deal," Donovan said of the hearing. "We had hoped a discrepancy would be there (with the Phillips County case), but it wasn't."

However, Donovan said, on behalf of his clients, Beverly Enterprises, he will file suit in the Pulaski County Circuit Court against the commission.

Once this suit is filed, he said, only the records existing in the case on the commission level will be allowed to be heard in court. No new evidence can be brought forth by either side.

In addition, the Attorney General's Office will make its appearance known on the side of the commission, when it files an answer to the suit.

The attorneys for Pineview, Donovan said, will also work to help the commission in an effort to allow its decision to stand.

However, should Donovan and Beverly lose at the circuit level, he said the case could then be appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court. "It's not over yet," he said.

In fact, Donovan said if the case goes to the state's supreme court, he will present the argument the commission didn't follow its own rules when making the decision to allow the move.

This rule is one based on need, he said. The criteria the commission is supposed to look at includes an examination as to whether the facility is needed in the area it would be moved to.

In this case, Donovan said, the answer should be no because there are existing nursing homes in Arkadelphia whose beds aren't full. Therefore, there is no need for another nursing home in the Arkadelphia corporate limits.

However, Donovan said the commission did not address the issue of need in making its decision. He said the panel has stated it doesn't have to look at need when moving beds within a county, it's an automatic move basically, with other criteria examined.

Because of this, he said the argument before the supreme court will be, "Can the commission ignore its own criteria of need when moving beds within a county?"

"I think we have a good shot," he said. "If we win, the judge could reverse the approval and remand the case back to them (the commission).

"But, the glimmer of hope is there could be a new commission when this happens."

Before leaving office, former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker appointed two members to the commission. Donovan said there is an argument at the capital these appointments should have been approved by the legislature.

Gov. Mike Huckabee is said to oppose these two appointments as well, and may be allowed to replace these people on the commission.

Should this occur, Donovan said he will then be able to make his arguments over before a fresh commission with a better chance of winning. "It's an uphill battle," he said. "There's a lot of (legal) process to go.

"We can tie their (Pineview's) move up for a while. They could move with the suit pending, but they'd be doing it at their own risk. I assume they won't build (a new nursing home in Arkadelphia) until it's over."

How long the issue will remain in doubt is not known at this time. Donovan said everything will depend on how quickly the circuit court makes its decision and what this judgement is.

Should the circuit court rule in favor of Pineview, then the supreme court will take over.

Donovan said the matter could be tied up in court for as long as two years.

"I'm sorry things turned out this way for the folks in Gurdon," he said of the decision. "Basically, the commission ignored them.

"This could be because it's a lame duck commission and they don't care. The (current) political climate makes the whole thing dicey."

Donovan said the commission based its decision primarily on the fact there are no doctors in Gurdon, nor is there a hospital in the community.

However, the panel also used the argument of time and distance both ways. Donovan said the commissioners talked about how it's 15 minutes to the nearest hospital when discussing getting medical care for the patients, but turned around and said it's only 15 minutes away for those who would have to visit their loved ones if the nursing home was moved to Arkadelphia.

So, Donovan said, though this battle was lost, the war is not over yet.