To the Editor:

At the recent Wallowa County Health Care District board meeting, Dr. DeVee Boyd expressed his concerns that the level of care at the new Senior Living facility will not equal the high standards existing at the old care center. No one on the board disputed his contention, an aspect of the new facility which has been continually glossed over by the district.

Voters overwhelmingly supported what was termed on the ballot as a residential care facility, but since then the project has devolved into an assisted living facility with space for some memory care patients. I presumed that a facility with care a step above assisted living would be built. Granted, there is the memory care component, unavailable locally, but I, among many, have a general principle against voting for the creation of any public entity which would be in direct competition with an existing private business, and this community has a fine assisted living facility in Joseph.

The Chieftain reported on May 29 that the daily operations will be managed privately by Marathon Development. Interestingly, Marathons website claims that they dont manage care facilities. After some investigating, I discovered that the actual managing entity will be Marathon Enterprises, a newly formed Oregon LLC with the same Washington mailing address as the development company, which leads me to believe our district is its first client.

Obviously Marathon expects to turn a profit, and its spokesman, Ted Johnson, admits this will be done through somewhat lower wages. To describe cuts in excess of 30 percent in this way is insulting to people who have given so much in caring for our elderly.

The district should manage this publicly subsidized facility and keep the money here in our community. More importantly, it needs to ensure that the level of care does not decline dramatically.