A cash-strapped Cleveland provider is getting a reprieve from a sizable loan debt. That’s what being a good citizen can do for you.
The city council on Monday voted unanimously to forgive $1.85 million in debt owed by the Eliza Bryant Village. That balance was the remainder on a $5 million loan, taken out by the provider in 2000 when it agreed to take on a failing East Side nursing home, cleveland.com reported.
City officials noted that the loan was supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Plus, the property, in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood, is part of an economically distressed area dubbed as an “empowerment zone.” The city also has a designated reserve funds to forgive loans in such circumstances.
Eliza Bryant had been keeping up with payments on the debt. But the organization has also been operating at a deficit, according to the report, hampered by decreases in Medicaid funding, more seniors choosing to age at home, and cost increases from the transfer of post-surgery rehab patients, the report notes.
“The ability for us to provide the type of services we need to provide means we have to do it at a loss,” Eliza Bryant CEO Danny Williams told the city’s finance committee.
