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According to a lengthy personal interview with one of the founding members of Knapp Haven Nursing Home, Mr. William Burnham, the concept of a local nursing home was merely a glimmer of hope in the minds of a group of far-seeing people in the year of 1962 in Chetek, Wisconsin. These individuals gathered themselves together into a group of men and women called the Senior Citizens Foundation. They were formally organized on February 28, 1962. Bill Burnham was appointed President, Dr. Powell was Vice-President, George Webb and Bertha Adkins were appointed Directors, and Bill Ohde as Secretary/Treasurer.
This group was composed of longstanding, well-respected members of the community who saw members of their own families and close friends needing nursing home care. These potential residents were spread far throughout the county homes. In a close knit community such as Chetek, this was unacceptable. The foundation’s wish was to develop a local nursing home in order to bring their family and community members “home”.
To that end, they approached the county governing body. The Barron County Board of Supervisors saw the wisdom of this idea and agreed to build a nursing home in Chetek and lease it to the city. Were there flaws or problems with this plan? On the surface, no. The rent gained from the room rates would capitalize and pay off the loan. This would be a self-supporting proposition. However, attached to the yes vote from the County board was the requirement that the already existing Dallas nursing home be updated to a 40 bed unit and a new nursing home be built in the other corner of the county, to be located in Prairie Farm. These requirements were carried out and these units exist today.
Four sites were under consideration for the Chetek building. Mr. and Mrs. Meihlan had a nice plot of wooded land, Mr. and Mrs. McAdow owned land at the edge of town by the highway and by a river, and there also was land available by the present airport, city park, and beach. However, the expediency of having city sewer and water already in place and fire protection readily available were the deciding factors in making a fourth site next to the local high school building more attractive. The city of Chetek purchased the land from Mr. Luer and deeded the land to the county. This site seemed to be ideal and cheaper to fund than any of the others.
This nursing home, though funded by the county and the city, needed to be better constructed and furnished than the available monies would allow, according to the desires of the building committee. Therefore, again the fact that this would be a community run and loved nursing home worked to its advantage. Because of other obligations, the county would not or could not allocate enough money to allow a truly fine building plus all “the bells and whistles” that the committee wanted for furnishings. So the committee asked each community group, church and civic groups alike, to furnish one room or piece of specialized equipment to the best of their financial ability. At completion of that particular room or purchase of equipment, a plaque was installed bearing the donor’s name. In this manner, the county’s money was stretched to obtain the best value for the amount of dollars.
Staffing:
However, a good sturdy building and state of the art equipment alone do not a profitable nursing home make. Where would the residents and staff come from? And would they stay once they were here? This situation, also, was well thought out beforehand by the committee. The nursing home was built in 1962 after the construction and operation of the medical clinic in town, so the MD’s were able to refer any residents needing institutional care to the hometown facility. Though the town was and still is small, attracting staff was never a problem. Rather than cut corners now that the physical plant was up, the committee hired a go-getter RN, Mrs. Stena Erwin, who was willing and able to lead and demand the best from her handpicked staff of nurses and nursing assistants. She was hired in January of 1963, less than one year after the building idea was conceived. She had trained at Luther Hospital in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and had worked in the emergency room and operating room there. Nursing school in the days Ms. Erwin attended were mainly on-the-job training schools. She ascended through the ranks at Luther and soon realized that she would like a supervisory position. She was quickly hired for the new nursing home position of Supervisor, which encompassed both Administrator and Director of Nurses positions. At the time, Federal and State nursing home regulations were not the stringent rules they are today, so Ms. Erwin was allowed to personally train the staff and maintain her own high standards of care.
Mr. Burnham served as President of the Knapp Haven Board of Directors for six years with Ms. Erwin as Supervisor. He then accepted the position of administrator, a post that he kept for 19 years until his retirement on February 19, 1988. During the first year, support staff was at a minimum. There was no custodial staff, so Mr. Burnham plowed and shoveled snow and started balky cars. He did not need a large salary and, indeed, worked for very little money. Ms. Erwin acted as Social Services, Activity Director, and Admissions coordinator as well as doing all the purchasing of supplies for the kitchen and the nursing departments. The nursing staff did the laundry. There has always been good office staff. Did the extra responsibilities hamper staff camaraderie? Far from it; in fact, the staff felt more personally involved and it drew them together into a more cohesive unit.
Knapp Haven’s reputation for high standards of care and more than adequate number of staff soon spread. Within three to four months of opening, Knapp Haven’s beds were filled. This became the standard situation that continues to this day. Because of the number of paying residents, the amount of income stayed consistently more than adequate allowing the standards to be kept high, which in turn kept the resident census high. Because the reputation was there for good pay and good working conditions, staff was much easier to come by than in other nursing homes in the area who were struggling to make ends meet.
Both because of the superior care provided and the great demand for a local Home, an addition was needed and planned for in one year. A 24-bed addition soon became a reality. However, a rather convoluted financing measure was required. As stated earlier, Barron County owned the land that the original building resided on. Therefore, the county was approached for funding when the expansions need became known. The county said “no” to any nursing home idea. Then the City of Chetek was approached. They agreed to finance the addition but the county already owned the land needed for this proposed building. The county readily deeded this land back to the city and work began on “Wing I”. A few years later, Wings 4 and 5 and a large activity room became a reality. At the time, the rent was being paid to the county. The county in turn deeded the land and the part of the building that it had ownership of over to the City of Chetek for $1.00. Municipal bonds were used for further funding. The city never paid out any cash except for the original piece of land. To this day, Knapp Haven is self-supporting.
It is important to understand that this was a local nursing home in a small town in a rural area. The staff was committed to giving superior care both because they were salt of the earth people who believed in a full, honest day’s work for a full day’s wage and because in this home town atmosphere, they knew they were taking care of each others’ friends and relatives. This included their sixth grade teacher, their friend from the neighboring farm, and other people they had known all their lives and already had a personal relationship with. For example, Mrs. Jones in room 331 was not a stranger; she was the lady who had given them warm, fresh out of the oven cookies everyday on their way home from school. This was not just a job to the staff; it was a chance to personally repay friends and relatives for past kindness. They felt a responsibility to the community. Therefore, staff turnover was low to non-existent. In fact, there are still staff members working today who were hired shortly after the nursing home first opened its doors.
In the beginning years, Knapp Haven received county aid. Mr. Burnham, as President of the board of directors, would set the proposed operating costs of the nursing home, and Mr. Sims, the State Auditor, went over the books and set up the anticipated budget. Social Services was then approached and they increased the room rates as needed. Unlike most nursing homes today, private pay residents then were charged the same as the county supported residents. Five to seven years after the nursing home’s inception, Title 19 was evolved giving the state more invasive regulatory power. This did not adversely affect Knapp Haven because it already had more than an adequate number of staff and its nursing practices were far beyond the minimum required. There were no real competitors for business at the time.
KNAPP HAVEN HISTORY
Contributed by Marge Jost, RN
