Medical records system not being used

Now, county officials are trying to come up with the $70,000 they say it will cost to train staff to use it.

At a Jan. 25 meeting of the commission overseeing the nursing home, officials blamed the lapse on former County Executive Steve Levy. He long fought to close the Yaphank facility, arguing it lost money.

Health Commissioner James Tomarken said that Levy's administration told his department "not to implement" the new records system. The nursing home continued relying on hard-copy files to track patient care and billing, without electronic integration.

"I am shocked by this revelation," said the legislature's Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook).

The $36-million Foley sale fell through early last year; Levy again proposed closing the facility this year, but lawmakers approved funding for at least six months as they seek a public-private partnership to operate the nursing home.

Legis. Kate Browning (WF-Shirley) said it wouldn't have hurt the county to implement electronic records at the time equipment was installed with a state grant. Spending money then to complete staff training would have ultimately saved money by making operations more efficient, she added.

"Everything we tried to bring in more revenue, the last administration put a kibosh on," Browning said.

The search for dollars to complete the training comes as Suffolk faces an estimated $100 million budget gap this year, and more than 600 positions, including those at Foley, are only funded through June.

Once they find the $70,000, county officials said it may take two months to get the medical records software company to complete the roughly three-week training.

"All the equipment is there," nursing home Administrator Kevin Carey told the oversight commission. "It's just training."