JANESVILLE — Rock County will begin taking steps next year to decide the future of Rock Haven Nursing Home.

The county board is expected to hire a consultant in 2009 to study the feasibility of renovating the 44-year-old publicly funded facility.

Sherry Gunderson, Rock Haven’s chief administrator, said the county will look for an architectural firm “whose business is building and renovating nursing homes.”

“That’s our first step — to see if it’s feasible to renovate,” Gunderson said.

The 130-resident nursing home needs upgrades, she added, particularly a sprinkler system.

“Truly, it’s a safe building, but it’s old,” Gunderson said. “It is important that nursing homes have automatic sprinkler systems.

“The advantage we have is that (the building is) not wooden.”

The facility also needs central air conditioning, an updated electrical system, a new elevator and bathrooms that are more accessible for residents in wheelchairs, she said.

Whether renovations would be cheaper than building a new facility remains to be seen. It’s also unclear when such a project would be funded. The county currently is mulling several big-ticket projects, including jail expansion and relocating the fairgrounds to a larger space.

“They all compete for limited dollars,” said Phil Boutwell, assistant to the Rock County administrator. “There’s only so many resources out there, and the county board faces some decisions when it comes to funding capital projects.”

Money has been appropriated to study renovation at Rock Haven.

“We’re just beginning to study the issues facing the nursing home,” Boutwell said.

The county hoped to determine this year whether renovation is preferable, but that project was put on hold, pending state and federal decisions on nursing home regulations that would affect construction costs.

“We put $80,000 in the 2008 budget in order to take a look at hiring a consultant,” Boutwell said. “It was delayed … (but) the county will carry over the money to 2009.”

The new regulations now have deadlines. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid announced in June that nursing homes will be required to have automatic sprinklers by 2013. In addition, the state wants counties to implement Family Care — a program that aims to keeps individuals in their own homes and communities, rather than nursing facilities — by 2011.

Implementing Family Care will affect the demand for nursing home beds in Wisconsin. State Department of Health spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis said the program will expand to 25 counties by 2009 and will be implemented statewide by 2011. Family Care gives Wisconsin residents in need of long-term care “the option of getting long-term care in their homes, in their communities,” Marquis said.

The result?

“Nursing homes in some parts of the state are having problems keeping their beds full,” Gunderson said.

Rock Haven itself has been downsized. In 2000, the county board authorized a reduction in the nursing home’s population to 180, and limited admissions to Rock County residents. When it was built, Rock Haven had a capacity of 250 beds.

“We’ve been downsizing our nursing home, but that’s been driven primarily by finances — the fact that the state and government financing for medical-assistance patients is nowhere near where it costs,” Boutwell said.

About 85 percent of Rock Haven’s residents receive some form of public medical assistance. The facility had a $15.7 million budget in 2007, with $6.6 million coming from the county’s property tax levy.

If next year’s study shows that renovating the nursing home is not feasible, the county will consider building a new facility.

Gunderson prefers a new, one-floor building, but understands there are significant financial considerations.

“Looking at our community, with (General Motors) closing and everything, it makes sense to see first if we could renovate,” she said.

Officials also have discussed whether the facility should even remain open, but Gunderson insists there is no imminent threat of closure.

“The county board members have been tossing that question around for 20 years,” she said. “We try not to have that discussion, because that makes residents and staff very anxious.”

She added that county nursing homes have been a fixture of the state’s health care system for years, and hopes that won’t change.

“The county homes still serve a purpose in Wisconsin,” she said. “That’s something that’s very unique to Wisconsin. It would be a shame for the county to get out of the nursing home business.”