Pleasant Valley Manor nursing home has broken a cycle of $1 million annual losses, nearly breaking even in 2014.

The county-owned nursing home finished $173,000 in the red last year, compared with a $1.13 million operating loss for 2013, Monroe County Commissioner Charlie Garris said.Garris credited the turnaround to $500,000 in union wage and benefit concessions in 2012, and economy measures taken by the Snydersville home's manager, Premier Healthcare. The county has provided annual subsidies to cover operating losses."What we're interested in as commissioners is that the place breaks even and it's not a burden to taxpayers," Garris said. "We have every reason to believe we will put it totally in the black this year."More than 100 of Pleasant Valley Manor's 265 employees are affiliated with AFSCME Council 13, which voted in late 2012 to roll back a scheduled 2.5 percent pay increase for 2013 to 1.5 percent. They also gave up one paid holiday. Other work rule changes were implemented to reduce costs."In 2014, those concessions started to kick in," Garris said. "The union is working real hard with the management to bring the cost down."The home had sustained $1 million losses in each of three consecutive years. Majority Republican commissioners, including Garris, had threatened to sell the home to a private owner unless concessions were made and the county's subsidy eventually eliminated.The 174-bed home operates at 94 percent to 96 percent of capacity, Garris said. Nearly 75 percent of residents pay for their stays through federal Medicaid, which doesn't cover the full cost of care.Pleasant Valley Manor provided $3.8 million in charity care last year due to low Medicaid payments, Garris said.The nursing home recently received a 2 percent increase in its federal reimbursement, which along with the wage concessions helped reduce costs, Commissioner Suzanne McCool said. There also have been fewer workers' compensation injury claims during the past year, said the Democrat who opposed all efforts to sell the home.Current concessions will remain in place through 2016, when the union contract expires, said Michelle Emili, nursing home administrator.Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC