Horrigan has appointed Andrea Snyder as the Acting Administrator, Laura Hartinger as the Acting Director of Nursing, and Brian Reader as the Supervising Administrator effective February 24, 2014.

The Chautauqua County Home, located on 10836 Temple Rd. in Dunkirk, is a 216-bed skilled nursing facility specializing in rehabilitation and long term health care.

Chautauqua County Home in Dunkirk, NY.

DUNKIRK – The man who’s swerved as the top administrator of the Chautauqua County Home in Dunkirk since 1997 is leaving his post at the end of February.

On Friday, Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan announced that county home administrator Tim Hellwig has resigned from his position and will leave on Friday, Feb. 28. He has resigned after accepting a position as Director of Nursing Homes in Cattaraugus County.

In a prepared statement, Helwig said that he greatly appreciates the many years he was afforded to serve with his teammates in county government and he is thankful for the opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of many of the county’s most vulnerable residents.

Horrigan says the process of finding a new county home administrator is now underway.

Meanwhile, the Chautauqua County Legislature is providing more details into a special meeting that is scheduled to take place the first week of February.

Legislature Chairman Jay Gould (R-Ashville) will call a special meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 6:30 p.m. According to a public notice, the purpose of the special meeting shall be to have a presentation, and question and answer session, with representatives of VestraCare, who made a proposal to purchase the County Home that was considered by the County Legislature last October.

It is expected that a new  proposed contract with VestraCare will be finalized and forwarded to lawmakers next week, prior to the February 5 special meeting.

Because it is a special meeting, there will be no public comment session provided. However, the meeting will be open to the public and anyone wishing to attend is welcome to do so.

At 4 p.m. the public safety committee will meet and while it has a light agenda, there is one item on the table that will garner some interest. Lawmakers will discuss a motion calling on the New York State Legislature to enact a law that protects the privacy of New York State pistol license and concealed carry permit holders. The motion is being sponsored by legislature chair Jay Gould (R-Ashville).

The legislature’s Human Services Committee also has a light agenda today when it meets at 5:45 p.m. However, it will get an update from Chautauqua County Home Supervisor Tim Hellwig on how that operation is proceeding this year. The county home was the center of  attention earlier this year when County Executive Greg Edwards pushed for its sale, claiming it was losing money. However, the sale did not receive enough votes to move forward in both the January and February voting sessions.

However, County Home Director Tim Hellwig said he believes some of the cost saving recommendations – which are based on suggestions from the study completed by the Center for Governmental Research (CGR) – were over estimated. Regardless, members of the panel felt that the recommendations did have some merit and moved forward with passing them along to county officials.

County legislator John Runkle (R-Cassadaga) served as the chair of the ad-hoc committee and said he was pleased with the process. He also said that due to some miscommunication, there was a misunderstanding as to what the committee was charged to accomplish. He clarified that the panel’s role was to review the CGR report and come forward with appropriate cost-saving recommendations. In no way was the panel charged with offering its thoughts on the possible sale of the county home, something that has been pushed by County Executive Greg Edwards.

The CGR report actually outlines more than $2.3 million worth of cost-saving recommendations. However, over $900,000 involve concessions and restructuring of wages and benefits with employees. But because of NY State Law, the panel was not allowed to make any contract recommendations that could impact labor negotiations.

Among the recommendations from the CGR report is the implementation of an electronic medical record keeping system, reducing the number of staff positions at the facility, market the home toward potential patients who can fully afford to pay for its services, and implement services that make better use of therapy and treatment provided by the facility.

The future of the cash-strapped county home is expected to once again be discussed during the legislature’s full voting session on Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the County Legislature Chambers. It will be open to the public.

Audio from last night’s meeting will be provided later today on wrfalp.wordpress.com.