At a meeting of the County Board tonight, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann announced the receipt of a letter of intent from EOM Healthcare Group LLC for the purchase of Samaritan Health Center. He was joined by EOM Healthcare Group owners Jacob Jeidel and Ben Shkop. After the closed session, the board voted to effectuate the sale 16-2.

“I am excited to announce that we have found a company that is so closely aligned with our Washington County values and goals in this transaction,” said Schoemann. “Saving our county nursing home ultimately will entail selling our county nursing home to ensure the best possible care for our campus residents.”

Throughout the process, Washington County remained focused on ensuring compassionate care of its elderly citizens while remaining accountable to the taxpayers. Three factors were imperative for Washington County to have in place before any sale agreement could be reached, and EOM Healthcare Group ensures that all of these considerations would be met:

• Ensuring that the current resident population remains cared for now and during the transition, and the facility will be available for future Medicaid-entitled residents as one of their choices for placement.
• Keeping a skilled nursing facility in the West Bend area.
• Providing an opportunity for the staff to continue with the new owner.

Jacob Jeidel said, “Our vision and philosophy is focused on when staff is happy, ultimately the residents are happy.  We don’t come in and cut expenses, we set standards at or above what they were.”

Jeidel said the acronym ‘EOM’ stands for ‘Every One Matters,’ because he wanted to have a name that “would remind me every day to stay true to our mission. Everybody knows that the residents come first. Unfortunately, what gets neglected along the way are the staff. They don’t get the attention they need. I don’t think people understand that it’s not a 9-5 job. The focus of the company, and what we’ve successfully accomplished, is very much employee focused.”

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