Hospital is official owner of
Prairie Acres/Heritage Estates
At a special joint meeting Monday night of the Hospital District Board and the Friona City Council, ownership of Prairie Acres Nursing Home and Friona Heritage Estates was officially conveyed to Parmer Medical Center. Due to certain state regulations and a 30-day required waiting period, PMC administrator Gayla Quillin said the ownership would be official at midnight March 31.
City of Friona Ordinance No. 2016.02.22 states: "An ordinance of the city council of the City of Friona, Texas authorizing the conveyance of Prairie Acres/Friona Heritage Estates nursing home to the Parmer County Hospital District."
Hospital District board chairman Danny Kendrick and Friona Mayor Rick White signed the documents transferring the assets to the hospital.
Prairie Acres and Heritage Estates have had census and financial concerns over the years. At one point several years ago the private sector rallied to raise money through steak dinners and donations to save the facilities from serious financial problems.
Slater Elza, former city attorney from the Underwood Law Firm in Amarillo, was present for the transfer. He said he had been working on this agreement for eight years and wanted to be present at its final conclusion.
The reasons for the city to give up the ownership and management are many, as stated in the ordinance: "WHEREAS the city council finds several public benefits and purposes to such transfer, including the elimination of both maintenance and operation costs and the liability exposure to the residents of Friona; allocating of operating costs of the nursing center across the larger population of the District; efficiencies that may be realized by the District's potential for bulk purchasing and staffing arrangements for the Nursing Center with the District's Parmer County Community Hospital; and District possesses better expertise than the city for operating a health care facility.
The transition is underway and it should be a positive future result for employees and residents of Prairie Acres/Heritage Estates and their families.
