Hospital announces skilled nursing closure
Vidant plans to expand
outpatient services ;
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Vidant Chowan Hospital of
ficials announced Wednesday it
will close its 50-year-old Skilled
Nursing Facility (SNF) that
houses 28 long-term care pa
' tients and employs 45.
The hospital’s directors coun
cil voted unanimously Wednes
day morning to close its long
term nursing facility June 11
in favor of using the space to
expand outpatient services, said
Jeffrey N. Sackrison, Vidant
Chowan Hospital president. He
said the hospital’s SNF $1 mil
lion annual loss contributed to
the decision.
“The decision to discontinue
SNF services was not taken
lightly,” Sackrison said. “We
evaluated many service lines
and considered multiple fac
tors, including community need,
availability of the service in the
community, the need to offer the
service in-house, and finally fi
nancial performance.”
Chowan Hospital, then owned
by the count# originally began
providing long-term nursing
care because the services were
not available in the area, Sackri
son said. Vidant Chowan Hospi
tal is the last one in the Vidant
system still providing a SNF.
“Hospitals just aren’t doing
that anymore,” Sackrison said.
“They’re staying close to their
core services and that’s not long
term care.”
Although patients were of
ficially notified by letter last
Wednesday, some families had
already heard leaks about the
impending closure.
Jim Kerr, 70, expressed out
rage about the planned closing.
His 87-year-old wife first became
a patient at the end of 2011 and
at a first month costs of $10,000
from his savings. News of the
preference for expanding out
patient services did not sit well
with him.
“I don’t care what they say,
it’s about the money,” Kerr said.
“What they’re saying is ‘I don’t
care about the skilled nursing,
I care more about the outpatient
services because it makes more
money.’ When they talk about
Vidant’s core values, they’re for
getting about these people.”
Rebecca C. Scarboro of Frank
lin, Va. said her family consid
ered themselves lucky to have
found a uniquely qualified SNF
when they placed her 86-year-old
mother. She said the quality of
care enhanced by the proximity
of medical staff has been a com
fort.
“I traded off the convenience
of having my mother close to me
for the peace of mind that she
would be in a better place at the
See CLOSURE, 4A
Town OKs
300th
birthday
party
Event slated for
November
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The Town Council voted
unanimously to lend its
support to a proposed 300th
anniversary celebration for
the founding of Edenton.
Afterlast
month’s
prelimi
nary
sugges
tion that
the town
would only
„ ... financially
Knighton support
the anniversary of Eden
ton’s 1722 incorporation,
the Council softened its
position during its April
10 monthly meeting. The
board agreed to support
the efforts by the Edenton
Historical Commission
and the Chowan Tourism
Development Authority in
promoting the celebration
slated for November.
Council agreed to have
Mayor Roland Vaughan
appoint a committee and a
chairman to lead a yearlong
effort to commemorate the
anniversary
The tpwn hopes to also
provide financial support
for the celebration.
Town Manager Anne-Ma
rie Knighton recommend
ed that the town utilize a
$4,000 matching grant from
Electricities that is avail
able to help fund events
promoting the community.
Knighton said that funds
from the EHC and the TDA
could be matched with the
grant to help pay for the cel
ebration.
Vaughan endorsed the
idea. r
“If we can go to a source
and get X number of dollars
in support of the effort, I
think we can endorse them
(yet-to-be named Commit
tee) in carrying out their
mission,” Vaughan said.
With the council’s ap
proval in hand, the mayor
indicated he would move
quickly to help get the plan
ning process underway.
“I’m sure they (EHC and
See 300TH, 2A
umi
6 *"8 9076"4 4813" 0
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Artist * Work
PHOTO BY KIP SHAW
Knox Mitchener, 7, and Hunter Mitchener, 13rfrom Richmond, watch Barbara Gernat of Nags Head paint in the garden of
Mayor Roland and Peggy Ann Vaughan. For story and more photos see page IB.
-:-T-:-•-;
Suspect steals winning scratch-off ticket
From staff reports
Trying to cash-in lottery tickets
or at least redeem them for beer
turned out to be an unlucky move
for an Edenton man.
On April 10 at about 1 a.m., po
lice discovered a breaking and en
tering at the Stop Shop on North
Broad Street in Edenton where
as the thief made off with lottery
tickets.
“It turned out that 447 North
Carolina state lottery tickets were
stolen during the incident,” said
Edenton Police Chief Jay Forten
bery
Fortenbery said officers received
information the day after the
break-in that Walter Lee Privott,
29, of Vance Lane, was attempt
ing to cash-in some of the stolen
lottery scratch-off tickets at the S
Mart on North Broad Street and
the Duck Thru on Virginia Road in
See TICKET, 2A
Developer wants to alter housing plans
T
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RENDERING COURTESY OF TIM MORGAN/EVERGREEN CONSTRUCTION
Evergreen Construction has applied for a new conditional use permit to build 50 units similar to these on Coke Avenue in
Edenton.
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
If the developers of a proposed
multi-housing complex want to pro
ceed with their plans, they’ll likely
need to stick with the original de
sign or face further backlash.
Evergreen Construction Com
pany will have to wait until next
month to find out if their efforts
to get town council approval for a
new conditional use permit will
be successful. At issue is whether
the company will be able to secure
a new permit that will allow it to
build 50 multi-family townhouse
and garden-style units on Coke
Avenue, and move the construc
tion from the back of the lot to the
front.
A conditional use permit grant
ed last year gave them the green
light to construct 45 units on the
rear portion of a 4-6 acre lot at the
former Chowan Veneer site. That
original permit remains in effect
at this time, according to town at
torney Hood Ellis.
After a lengthy discussion, and
comments from citizens, council1
ors determined they did not have
enough facts to make an informed
decision at their April 10 regular
monthly meeting.
Councilman Sambo Dixon asked
the project’s developer Tim Morgan
to make a copy of a market study
available to the council so that that
information could be included in
See DEVELOPER, 4A
Schools
tout
reserves
as savior
Fund balance
remains at $1.7M
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Whenever school and
county leaders talk jointly
about budget needs, the
conversation invariably
turns to the system’s fund
balance.
Monday posed no excep
tion as the Edenton-Chow
an Board of Education met
with the
Board of
Commis
sioners
and pre
sented the
system’s
2012-13
expense
request.
In order to
meet the
system’s
top prior
ity needs,
school
leaders
asked the
county to
pay an ad
ditional $229,100 over last
year’s allocation for a total
of $3.6 million.
School leaders have ap
propriated $500,000 and an
other $250,000 contingency
from the system’s fund bal
ance to bring the total lo
cal expense budget at $4.5
million. When asked how
much would remain in the
schools’ fund balance after
the appropriation, Super
intendent Allan Smith re
ported $1.7 million.
“In my mind, there is
some resentment about
school systems carrying a
fund balance,” said Com
missioner Emmett Win
borne. “Where does the
money need to sit, in your
coffers or our coffers?”
Smith renewed his de
fense of the schools’ fund
balance, adding that the
system has been able to
offset shortfalls to balance
its budget. Many school
systems throughout the
state have depleted fund
balances while facing the
same economic shortfalls,
he added.
“Without that (fund bal
ance), we’d be in a lot more
of a difficult situation,”
Smith said.
Commissioners’ Chair
man Eddy Goodwin con
curred that he too had
See BUDGET, 4A
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