To fill what's expected to be a growing need for memory care, the McHenry County-operated Valley Hi nursing home near Woodstock opened its new memory care unit.

After more than a year of planning, McHenry County is taking concrete steps toward bidding out the new memory care wing at Valley Hi Nursing Home.

Work to expand broadband to northeastern McHenry Count could begin this year, McHenry County Board Chair Mike Buehler announced in the annual State of the County address Thursday.

With nine new McHenry County Board members being seated this month, members, both new and old, say their priorities are tackling inflation, making progress on Valley Hi, and doling out federal money

McHenry County officials hope plans for the new memory care wing will be completed this year, with construction beginning in 2023.

Valley Hi Nursing Home in Woodstock is seeking two $5 per day rate increases in 2022 that will impact private-paying residents.

“We’ve been able to amend our protocols as we’ve learned. We’re still planning to do the Christmas gifts and the Santa Clause like we always have,” the Valley Hi Nursing Home administrator said.

All but two of the people who tested positive are fully vaccinated: "This is why the booster program for the elderly is so important," Valley Hi's administrator says

The McHenry County Board will be adding a new committee to handle matters related to the county-run Valley Hi Nursing Home in Woodstock.

McHenry County Board members are considering establishing a new committee specifically to oversee Valley Hi Nursing Home in a move that would give the County Board more direct oversight of the county-run facility.

Staff vaccination rates at six McHenry County nursing homes have declined since Aug. 1, despite a mandate requiring Illinois health care employees to get vaccinated

“I’m losing staff. I lost five day-shift staff [members] in a week to the hospital,” Valley Hi Nursing Home administrator Tom Annarella said

Valley Hi failed to separate roommates after one would test positive five different times. They paid a $16,250 fine for improperly following COVID-19 guidance for long-term care facilities

Staff at McHenry County long-term care facilities are, in the vast majority of cases, less vaccinated than the residents they’re caring for, data from the Illinois Department of Public Health shows.

Future additions, including new memory and dementia care units, could be coming to Valley Hi Nursing Home, the Woodstock-based, county-run nursing home.

Nursing home employees would be paid an extra $25 to $50 per shift under proposal

A preliminary report from St. Louis-based Management Performance Associates determined that there is sufficient demand for a dementia program in McHenry County.

McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks is angling to refund $15 million from Valley Hi Nursing Home reserves to eligible residents

A McHenry County Board committee moved forward a resolution that would rebate $100 to qualified households out of the $40-million Valley Hi Nursing Home surplus.