MONROE - Pleasant View Nursing Home employees have taken it upon themselves to support the nursing home.
Peggy Siegenthaler, vice president of the employees' union, has placed petitions in Monroe businesses to gather signatures from people who also back the county's nursing home.
The petition is in response to the discussion at Tuesday's county board meeting about how to help finance an expected deficit to next year's nursing home budget.
Siegenthaler has worked at the nursing home for 28 years. Like the other 150 employees at the home, she has a financial interest Pleasant View's future.
But the issue is more than just about jobs, she said. Siegenthaler and other employees at Pleasant View are concerned about the residents, she said.
"We're all doing this," she said of the workers' effort. "The residents are like family to us, and we're like family to them."
Siegenthaler is concerned that residents will have to leave if the county doesn't come up with a way to fund the nursing home.
Friday, the Green County Finance and Accounting Committee estimated a $1.2 million deficit for the nursing home next year. The committee voted to recommend the county hold a referendum to tax residents up to $890,000 a year for the next five years to cover the cost of the nursing home.
The nursing home employees put their petitions out about two weeks ago, Siegenthaler said. They hope to have 1,000 signatures before they bring the petition to the county board to show Pleasant View has the support of Green County residents.
The petition could be presented to the county board at it's Aug. 25 meeting when the board will decide if there will be a county-wide referendum.
"I'd love to have everyone in the county sign it," she laughed.
So far, there are about 300 signatures on the petition.
The people who sign the petition support the nursing home.
"A lot of people are concerned their elderly relatives will have to go to another county," she said. "That would be difficult for the elderly people. It would possibly keep them from visiting their relatives and they would feel as if they're abandoning them."
Siegenthaler heard from only one person who said they didn't want to see their taxes increase and that person refused to sign the petition.
She hopes the petition will help educate voters about the need for the nursing home and get people to think about the residents.
The petition form can be found at Schultz Pharmacy, Ruf Confectionery, The Garden Deli, The Behring Senior Center and Flanagan's Shenanigan's.
Peggy Siegenthaler, vice president of the employees' union, has placed petitions in Monroe businesses to gather signatures from people who also back the county's nursing home.
The petition is in response to the discussion at Tuesday's county board meeting about how to help finance an expected deficit to next year's nursing home budget.
Siegenthaler has worked at the nursing home for 28 years. Like the other 150 employees at the home, she has a financial interest Pleasant View's future.
But the issue is more than just about jobs, she said. Siegenthaler and other employees at Pleasant View are concerned about the residents, she said.
"We're all doing this," she said of the workers' effort. "The residents are like family to us, and we're like family to them."
Siegenthaler is concerned that residents will have to leave if the county doesn't come up with a way to fund the nursing home.
Friday, the Green County Finance and Accounting Committee estimated a $1.2 million deficit for the nursing home next year. The committee voted to recommend the county hold a referendum to tax residents up to $890,000 a year for the next five years to cover the cost of the nursing home.
The nursing home employees put their petitions out about two weeks ago, Siegenthaler said. They hope to have 1,000 signatures before they bring the petition to the county board to show Pleasant View has the support of Green County residents.
The petition could be presented to the county board at it's Aug. 25 meeting when the board will decide if there will be a county-wide referendum.
"I'd love to have everyone in the county sign it," she laughed.
So far, there are about 300 signatures on the petition.
The people who sign the petition support the nursing home.
"A lot of people are concerned their elderly relatives will have to go to another county," she said. "That would be difficult for the elderly people. It would possibly keep them from visiting their relatives and they would feel as if they're abandoning them."
Siegenthaler heard from only one person who said they didn't want to see their taxes increase and that person refused to sign the petition.
She hopes the petition will help educate voters about the need for the nursing home and get people to think about the residents.
The petition form can be found at Schultz Pharmacy, Ruf Confectionery, The Garden Deli, The Behring Senior Center and Flanagan's Shenanigan's.