New McHenry County Board committee approved to oversee Valley Hi

The McHenry County Board will be adding a new committee to handle matters related to the county-run Valley Hi Nursing Home in Woodstock following a decision at Tuesday night’s County Board meeting.

In a vote that received no opposition from board members, officials agreed to add a seventh committee to the County Board to handle resolutions related to Valley Hi and oversee the facility rather than keeping matters related to the nursing home within a committee that handles additional responsibilities.

“The idea of that is that Valley Hi then gets the focus that it deserves,” said board member Jim Kearns, R-Huntley, who came up with the idea.

The original resolution in front of board members asked them to dissolve the Valley Hi Operating Board in favor of allowing the board’s public health and community services committee to handle matters related to the facility. According to the resolution, the operating board had not met since 2018. Kearns amended the resolution following discussion members had at last week’s committee of the whole meeting.

“I look forward to working with the new committee and working together to continue the long-standing tradition of excellence at Valley Hi,” facility administrator Tom Annarella said.

At last week’s committee of the whole meeting, board members said Valley Hi issues involved enough responsibility to give the facility its own committee. The board often has several different resolutions related to the facility on its agenda.

The board also passed resolutions on Tuesday approving a staff restructuring at Valley Hi aimed at better addressing needs at the facility and financial restraints, along with a plan to increase salaries and bonuses for staff members in hopes of recruiting and retaining more employees.

“We need sunshine on the activities of Valley Hi and I think we’re doing a disservice by considering to take this out of the light of day,” board member Jeff Thorsen, R-Crystal Lake, said last week.

Now all resolutions and discussion related to the nursing home will go before the board’s Valley Hi committee following Tuesday’s vote.

“Long-term care is going to be going through a lot of changes. I think this is an opportunity to be focused on Valley Hi so that we can really dig into the intricacies of how work is done,” board member Paula Yensen, D-Lake in the Hills, said.

Kearns suggested last week that Yensen would be a good candidate to lead the committee because she has been involved with long-term care facilities through nonprofits and positions she has held on boards overseeing public health.

It’s not clear when the committee will begin meeting, however. Board Chairman Mike Buehler, R-Crystal Lake, said members interested in being on the committee should reach out to him. Buehler said the committee will function like the rest of the board’s committees with one member from each of the County Board’s six districts.

The committee will run through November 2022 before the newly restructured County Board is sworn in in December 2022. Decisions about the board’s structure of committees will be made before then.

The McHenry County Board also has other committees including: finance and audit; administrative services; law, government and liquor; planning, environment and development; public health and committee services; and transportation.