After months of discussion, the Rock Island County Board has finally decided to sell Hope Creek. The Quad City Times reports Tuesday night the board voted 17 to 5 to sell the county nursing home in East Moline.
The new owner will be a private chain of nursing homes, Aperion Care, that submitted the high bid of 6 million dollars, even though Hope Creek was listed for sale last year for 19 million.
County officials say it's been losing around 2 million dollars a year ever since it opened in 2009. And that the only options are sell it or close it.
Employees and union leaders have urged the county to retain ownership, and find other ways to fix its finances. They worry about possibly losing jobs when a private owner takes over, and Aperion's record - last year it paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for violations at its 34 nursing homes in Illinois
