03/17/2026
I’ve had to raise rates recently to the chagrin of a few but I stressed over it for weeks. Many don’t see or recognize what’s different in operating a nursing home. I recently replaced the stove and dishwasher. Stove was $17,000 and washer was $14,000. We have 3 clothes washers which are $5500 each and 2 dryers that are $4000 each. The washers require a $250 valve to be replaced about every 6 months. We have a filtration and water softner system but still doesn’t prevent these from failing. The salt for our softner has gone from $4.80 to almost $7 a bag and we use 4-6 a week. We have 4 tankless water heaters which are $4500 each and require annual service of $600. A new shower chair last month was $1400.00. This past weekend we had a mag lock go bad during the storm. We have 3 but only one went out. This is what locks the doors for our Wanderguard system. Emergency repair call was $2700.00. Read that again…$2700.00!!! 4 years ago I paid $80,000 for a new roof and $33,000 for a new call light system and fire monitoring panel. The fire panel also requires a monthly fee of $133.00. Businesses aren’t making the money some think. I don’t normally spread private info but sometimes it needs to be made known so people can understand what a business owner endures. The Stuart House survives because I also do a lot of the maintenance. I fixed the dishwasher last week at 2 am when it started leaking due to a cheap plastic broken hose. Only took 30 minutes but if I had called someone it would have been over $500. A broken toilet was replaced last week without calling a plumber. Again, saved over $500. Fixed the ice machine and saved a couple hundred easily. I went to another facility over the weekend. Walked through the whole place before finally stopping at a desk with 3 people and asked for whom I was visiting. My assumption is they had around 80 residents and about 8 nursing staff. I have around 19 residents and 4 staff members! My payroll has doubled since 2020 and I also provide shoes and uniforms which is now about $400 per staff member a year. Food and utility costs are up over 25%. On average I raise rents about 5-10% a year while national average is 10-20% and their rates start higher. So, this year I had to go a little higher to catch up. When a fast food burger is now close to $10 and a hotel room is about what we charge the service we provide for what we do is second to none. No one is getting rich here….
