Group holds press conference to discuss Pardee Care Center upset bid

Members of the board and the president of Lutheran Services for the Aging met with citizens this morning to answer questions and discuss their plan to enter an upset bid to buy the Pardee Care Center.

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners on April 16 approved the sale of the Pardee Care Center to Hendersonville Physicians and Associates. The group of doctors is offering $8.45 million for the center.

LSA’s new offer includes $7.5 million in cash at the closing, $750,000 in capital improvements and equipment, $25,000 in cash to the facility from the Lutheran Church in North Carolina and $1.3 million in additional cash and value, raising LSA’s total amount to $9.6 million, according to LSA president Ted Goins Jr. The new bid has not been officially presented to the commissioners because the upset bid process has not begun, according to Goins.

Goins said that over the nest 30 years, LSA has calculated the value to Henderson County to be $52 million.

Goins also mentioned the possibility of purchasing the adjacent adult daycare center if LSA’s upset bid is accepted.

Pardee’s board of directors has been trying since last year to sell the long-term nursing and rehabilitation facility as part of a plan to focus on the hospital’s core services.

The county’s approval of the contract starts the upset bid process. A competing bidder will have to offer more money and a longer contract length.