Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Residents Fight To Keep Pineview Nursing Home In Gurdon

Residents of Gurdon formulated a battle plan to keep Pineview Nursing Center where it is.

Meeting Friday night in the Gurdon Middle School auditorium, about 100 concerned citizens listened to Little Rock attorney Rick Donovan and Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith outline what could happen.

The Arkansas Health Services Agency (AHSA) met at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Little Rock to decide the fate of Pineview. Residents making the trip lined up at city hall to make the bus trip to the state's capital.

Donovan and Smith urged all who could to make the trip and show their support for keeping the nursing home where it is.

Donovan represents Beverly Enterprises, Inc. of Arkansas in the suit.

Owners of Pineview have sought permission to move the facility from Gurdon to Arkadelphia, where they can build a new 72-bed structure. The current home has 60 beds.

Donovan said there are eight members of the AHSA, each being appointed by the governor. One of these representatives is a from a hospital association, another represents nursing home interests, a third seat goes to a patient association, with the remainder being at large slots.

The head of the agency is Orson Berry, who originally approved allowing Pineview to leave Gurdon and move to Arkadelphia.

The owners of the nursing home cited a lack of doctors in Gurdon as one of their reasons for wanting the move. However, Donovan said Gurdon does have medical facilities, with the Baptist Ambulance Service and St. Joseph- sponsored clinic.

In addition, Dr. Mike Young visits Gurdon on a regular basis.

Donovan said Gurdon has a 50-50 shot at keeping Pineview.

The decision, he said, could come down to history and how the commission feels about its job. In the past, older nursing homes were granted approval to move anywhere else in the county they were in upon request.

However, the residents of Gurdon have a recent decision going in their favor. The panel refused to allow a nursing home to move in Phillips County in a similar situation because the move would have harmed the city the nursing home was leaving economically.

And, he said, one member of the board has already publicly committed to voting against allowing Pineview to move. This, too, could help the Gurdon cause.

But, should the agency approve the move, Donovan said he could delay Pineview's leaving for quite some time with legal maneuvers in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

"I'd rather win outright than play legal games," he said. "The effect on Gurdon if Pineview leaves will be devastating.

"Your ability to get a doctor decreases. You need a facility to draw a doctor to a small town and practice."

Donovan continued saying the city's economy would be adversely affected as well because Pineview is a large employer.

It would also be detrimental to the quality of life in Gurdon if Pineview moves. "People," he said, "care for their relatives in nursing homes in small towns daily, they don't crate them up and ship them off."

According to Donovan, there is a move to get the general assembly to address the nursing home issue in its 1997 session.

Brent Houston, representing State Rep. Percy Malone, read a letter from Malone, who was out of state.

In the letter, Malone reminded the residents of his commitment to improve health care in the area and supports keeping a nursing home in Gurdon.

Smith told the gathering Gurdon was not dying, not only is the city not dying or dead, he said, it's actually growing at a faster rate than Arkadelphia, statistically.

He said Gurdon has been issuing more building permits than Arkadelphia on a per-capita basis for the past three years.

Additionally, Smith informed the audience 13 new businesses have opened in Gurdon in the last three years, and the city has received several grants from the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission, the Rural Advocacy and others. These grants, he said, aren't given to dying cities.

In fact, he said Gurdon has received $559,000 in grants recently, and this figure doesn't include the grant money for the rural water project.

Gurdon, he added, is the smallest city in Arkansas to achieve status as an Arkansas Community of Excellence (ACE). It is one of 22 cities in the state to earn the honor, and the second in Clark County to be so recognized.

Smith said the city had to recertify for its ACE status in 1995 by filing a three year plan and a one year program of work. By the end of the year, more than 70 percent of the three year plan had been accomplished.

Also, in recent years, the citizens voted to tax themselves to improve the city's streets and upgrade its fire department.

The end result has been the purchase of a new $167,000 fire truck for the GFD and, though slowly, better streets.

Gurdon, he continued, also boasts a new high school, which cost more than $3 million to complete. Though the school dropped in classification from a AA level to the A spot, it is expected to return to AA status in two years.

Talking about the rural water project, Smith said it will entail laying 48 miles of linear pipe at a cost of $4 million.

While the city, according to recent census reports, has lost population, Gurdon is still the hub for smaller communities in the area, such as Beirne, Okolona and Whelen Springs.

"They are part of our community," he said. "They come here and shop and have people in Pineview as well. We need to tell the commission to do what is right for the people of Gurdon, not what is best for stockholders.

"We need to keep our heads up and not give up," he continued. "I can't see how they (the panel) could make the decision to approve this move.

"It (the commission) was formed to prevent things like this from happening. Their job is to do what's best for the community."

Based on population, he said, Gurdon's Senior Adult Center serves more people than Arkadelphia's, which shows a greater need for a nursing home in Gurdon.

People in big cities, he added, don't think of driving the same way those in smaller cities do. While the proposed new location of Pineview is 18 or 19 miles away from Gurdon, it will be further for those who live in places such as Beirne, Whelen Springs and Okolona.

Such a move would not only be bad for Gurdon, but for the county as a whole. "I think if Pineview closes," Smith said, "the people won't go to Arkadelphia, but will go out of the county.

"If the people wanted to be in Arkadelphia, they'd be there. They want to be in Gurdon, close to their families."

Smith said church groups go to the home and entertain the residents, as do other groups, such as the 4H Club.

Additionally, he continued, about 52 people work at Pineview and Gurdon can't afford to lose those jobs and the tax reven