DeSoto Manor with 115 beds is the only nursing home in DeSoto County, and it posted 100 percent occupancy for 1997. Their occupancy has fallen off in the past year and is currently around 70 percent, said interim-administrator Jim Wong. In 1998, two more nursing homes opened up in Charlotte County, and with utilization falling, administrators say the market has reached its limit for now. The occupancy rate for Charlotte County's nursing homes in 1997 was 90.7 percent, third out of seven counties measured by the Health Planning Council of Southwest Florida. In 1998, the number of beds jumped from 1,003 to 1,138, and the occupancy rate dropped to 79 percent.
Nursing homes are having write their budgets with lower and lower expectations for patient numbers.
Lidner said nursing home admissions have been hurt by two local hospitals running their own in-house nursing homes. Deb Sweetland, spokeswoman for Fawcett Memorial Hospital, said having skilled nursing units within hospitals provides a great deal of convenience for patients. Hospital patients who need to be transferred to a nursing home are given, by law, all the alternatives open to them. A tough business getting tougher Charlotte County has the highest median age of any county in the nation, and its demographics are responsible for the tremendous growth the of nursing home industry over the last 10 years. But cutbacks in government funding and shifts in patient health care choices have created a more treacherous business climate for nursing homes.