PDH working on child care center, skilled nursing facility
By Debra Moore
From the very young to the elderly — Plumas District Hospital is simultaneously working on projects to address the needs of those two groups — a new child care center and a skilled nursing facility.
The child care center will operate out of a residence that the district purchased last year, which is located adjacent to the hospital campus. The home was gutted and is being transformed into a center where staff can take their children.
The skilled nursing center is in the design phase and would be located across Bucks Lake Road from the hospital.
Chief Operating Officer Darren Beatty gave an update on both projects during the board’s July meeting. He began by announcing that the hospital has hired a director for the child care center — Jennine King. King grew up in Quincy and has seven years experience as a site supervisor for the local Head Start site.
Beatty and Tiffany Leonhardt, the hospital’s director of public relations and communications, are working with King and putting together a timeline, creating a parent handbook, discussing food menus, and visiting the Tahoe Forest facility for guidance. It is a big undertaking, but the hospital’s CEO JoDee Read and other staff believe it is essential for their employees to have child care available. Hospital employees will be given first priority, but if there are extra slots, they could be made available to the public.
As for the skilled nursing facility, the hospital has been working with Aspen Street Architects to determine the feasibility of the project. “The consultant helped to give us a way forward,” Beatty said. “Aspen took us through the primary design phase.”
However, since Plumas District will be proceeding with a design-build plan, Aspen isn’t allowed to bid on the project, since the entity would have an advantage in the process.
Beatty said that the district is currently receiving geo-technical proposals and developing criteria to hire a project manager for the project. Chief Financial Officer Caleb Johnson is handling the application process for a USDA loan.
The Quincy area has been without a skilled nursing facility since the Quincy Nursing & Rehabilitation Center closed in 2015.
