Health dept. to buy former nursing home

SANDUSKY — The Erie County Health Department will buy the former Lutheran Memorial nursing home in Sandusky, providing space for the department's expanding mental health and substance abuse services. The health department has leased space for years at the former nursing home, 795 Bardshar Road, which closed as a nursing home in 2017. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health department leased the building to provide additional beds if they were needed, although the facility was never used for treating pandemic patients. More recently, the health department has leased space in the building for its adult day care, paying $2,000 a month to lease 10,000 square feet, said Pete Schade, Erie County's health commissioner. During the health department's Tuesday evening board meeting, hosted in the health department offices, the board voted to move forward with the lease-purchase of the entire 45,000-square-foot facility, including 12 acres of property, at a cost of $800,000. Schade said the health department is scheduled to make lease payments of $200,000 a year for four years to the owner, Toledo-based Genacross Lutheran Services. At the conclusion, the health department will own the building. Schade said he expects the deal to go through in the middle of September. Some fixes needed Schade said he expects 80 beds or so to become available. "The building's in fair condition," Schade said. "It needs a few things." For example, utilities need to be upgraded, some roof and drywall repair is needed, and the outside of the building will need some attention. Landscaping will also be needed, as the site has become overgrown, Schade said. "A lot of the trees need to be removed," Schade said. What it will be used for? Schade said the health department will use the property to expand substance abuse treatment. The health department runs a detox center on its main campus, 420 Superior St. in Sandusky, for people beginning their journey into recovery. It also provides space in a building across the street from its main offices for Becky's House, a residential treatment facility for women run by Road to Hope, a recovery organization that has other facilities in northern Ohio. The Lutheran Memorial facility will provide beds for men in treatment, Schade said. As the health department moves to provide more intensive outpatient services and inpatient mental health treatment, Kaptur House on the main campus also should be able to provide beds, Schade said. The original intent of the Kaptur-Rogowski House was to provide temporary housing and support for people in crisis. That will continue, but as the number of people treated there hasn't been large, 16 beds should be available, Schade said. He said one example of the planned outpatient treatment is that the health department plans to offer free counseling sessions for families dealing with a loved one who has an addiction problem. "No one's doing that," Schade said. The health department also wants to work with OHgo, an Erie County nonprofit, to use the former Genacross building to provide temporary, inexpensive housing for mothers of young children who are struggling financially, Schade said.