After trimming staff and halting construction of new facility, Sunset Home officials say they’re now ‘right-sized’

QUINCY — Twenty-five employees were eliminated from the staff earlier this summer, but Sunset Home Administrator Jonni Bullington says none of the cuts were to direct-care employees.

“We have evaluated our patient-to-staff ratio in relation to our average census, and as a result of that across all departments, we’ve had to do a right-sizing that best reflects our ability to provide the best care possible to the residents of Sunset Home,” she said. “We are absolutely not under regulatory requirements for patient-to-staff ratio. We are meeting that. In some areas, we’re even succeeding that.”

Most of the cuts came from ancillary departments such as activities, social service, dietary, maintenance and housekeeping. One wing of the facility at 418 Washington also was closed, and the facilities’ beds were consolidated from four floors to three.

“Each department was asked financially to buckle down,” said Darin Prost, president of Sunset Home’s Board of Trustees. “They were asked, ‘How can we do it?’ I hate to use the words ‘let go,’ but we just had to do something. We were overspending. The cuts came from all departments, but not from skilled nursing.”

Sunset Home went from 200 employees to 175.

Sunset Home, which was established in 1889, announced in June 2021 it was looking to raise at least $5 million as part of a campus renovation plan that would include construction of a 106-bed skilled nursing facility across the street from its current location. A groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled for October 2022.

However, work on the building never started.

“For right now, that project is on a pause,” Bullington said. “We are refocusing on the current skilled nursing facility building. With the economy and inflation and the times and everything, every business has to look at themselves and do some restructuring. That’s simply what we’re doing.”

“The groundbreaking was premature,” Prost said. “The fundraising process wasn’t as successful originally as what we first thought.

“I think Sunset Home lost the focus on what’s important, and that’s the existing building, residents and staff. We were just trying to get the new building built. It was kind of the perfect case of where we had the cart in front of the horse. That’s when we realized, hey, let’s take a step back and really look at the financials. We’ve got to take care of this before we could do that.”

Sunset Home remains licensed for 132 skilled nursing beds. Bullington said the facility’s average occupancy is about 95 people.

Bullington replaced Jerry Neal as the administrator earlier this summer. Neal replaced Christine Hopson as Sunset Home’s administrator in December 2012.

“The board was like, ‘Let’s reach out to Jerry and see if he’d be willing to come back from Florida,’” Prost said. “He said he would for a short period of time and get us back on our feet. He thought he could probably get everything done in three years, no problem. But in his second stint as executive director, the three years turned into 10. He gave us his all.”

Bullington previously had been an administrator at St. Vincent’s Home in Quincy. She’s been working in nursing homes for about 36 years.

“Jonni has stepped in and just kind of grabbed the bull by the horns,” Prost said. “We as board members didn’t know we had such a talented person. She’s really shown her true colors in the last two months.”

With a new administrator in place and the “right-sizing” complete with staff, Prost wants to make sure the public knows Sunset Home is not in danger of shutting down.

“We just needed to buckle our chin straps and keep the place energized,” he said. “By no means do we want word to get out that Sunset’s closing. You don’t want a negative vibe to it. The big message you’re going to hear from Sunset is that we cannot let these beds leave the Quincy community. If they leave, then you’re driving to Springfield or Peoria to go see Grandma or Grandpa.

“People just don’t realize the advantages Quincy has, having places like Good Samaritan (Home) and Sunset where care is being offered in our backyard.”

Sunset Home also operates:

• Sunset Assisted Living, 418 Washington: 18 licensed rooms with 100 percent occupancy and a waiting list.
• Sunset Villas, 419 Washington: 16 units with 100 percent occupancy.
• Sunset Home Apartments, 301 N. Eighth: 94 units available with 8 vacancies.

Prost isn’t ready to give up on fundraising for the 106-bed facility across the street.

“Let’s evaluate this thing after 12 months and see where we’re at financially,” he said. “What the community needs to hear is we cannot lose these (132) beds. Now that you’ve proven that you can take care of business and you can take care of the residents, then it’s time to get out of a 1950s building and get into a state-of-the-art building that offers even better service.

“The ship’s not sinking, folks. Get on board and trust us.”

Charles and Augusta Pfeiffer opened Altenheim (“Old People’s Home”) in their home at 418 Washington in 1889. The west wing was added in 1900, and the east wing was added in 1927. The first infirmary unit was built in 1957, and a therapy gym, linen room, craft room, chapel, beauty parlor and barber shop were added in 1971.