Omie Blocker, center, relates how she has invested over a third of her life in this facility and she's not about to give up on the residents or staff, "just because we finally got a bad owner after all these years."
Dietary cook Connie Buffington prepares the dining room for lunch time.
Tuesday morning, it was business as usual at Deseret Health and Rehab. One glaring difference is that the phone is being answered Valley View Healthcare, which is the former name of the nursing home.
The nursing home was built in 1975 by Kendall McBride and was operated by him and his sister Carolyn Vyvey for seven years.
The Saratoga Lions Club had guaranteed the bond. If the bonds were not paid, the members of the Lions Club would personally be responsible for the loan, according to an article written by Dick Perue, former owner of the Saratoga Sun.
It allowed the residents of the Platte Valley to have a place to go when they could no longer stay home alone or were recovering from a surgery or stroke.
Friday, the future of the nursing home became uncertain, when Anita Mills, administrator of Deseret Health and Rehab, learned that Deseret Rehab and Care may be closing down through Carbon County Commissioner Sue Jones, .
Since then, community members have been coming to her aid and the aid of the residents.
Closing a nursing home is not an easy process, there are federal and state rules to follow.
As word spread about the closing, calls started coming in to offer help.
"I had heard that this community comes together in a crisis," Mills said. "Now they have proven it to me."
Pastor Gene Smith with the Platte Valley Christian Center came in on Sunday. Tuesday he followed up to see how Mills was doing.
"We are getting phone calls from people who are interested in purchasing the nursing home," Mills said.
Despite an uncertain future, the staff at Deseret is working to take care of the residents.
"(The employees) are devoted and they bond with the residents," Mills said. Mills is amazed by the how she has been accepted into the community. She is getting an outpouring of support. "I have only been here three months, but I don't feel like an outsider," Mills said.
Mills related Tuesday afternoon just as the Saratoga Sun was going to press that Kindred of Rawlins and Cheyenne Healthcare were sending representatives to look into transferring some of the residents to those facilities and that many of her staff were already looking into positions elsewhere. "Whatever happens, I'll be here making sure everything is being taken care of until the last dog is hung," said Mills.
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