"We're going to be a small, just family-owned corporation," said Christina Burnett, one of the new owners of Denver Manor and Cedar Falls Care Center.
Christina and her husband, Steven Burnett, under the name Burnett Healthcare, took over Sunday as the owners of the two centers, which before were part of the Lubbock-based Conifer Care Inc.
The change in ownership came as, once again, word swirled in the community about bounced paychecks for employees at the centers when they were still under Conifer Care. It was the latest report in a series of such claims stretching over more than a year.
Christina Burnett said Tuesday that she spoke with Conifer about paychecks at the beginning of the week, and the company told her it would wire funds Tuesday to cover paychecks that had bounced.
Burnett said the new owners were coming from the Dallas area and planned to make Wichita Falls home as they operate centers that serve as home to dozens of residents.
"We found out they were up for grabs and took them," she said of the centers, and added that the Burnetts will set up their corporate office at Denver Manor.
She said they'll be in the buildings every day, and they'll make sure things are taken care of for both patients and staff.
"Patient care is a top priority to me," Burnett said.
She said they were not walking into any debt of a previous owner and said that Conifer Care really doesn't have a role with the centers now.
The past year has brought financial concerns for Conifer Care.
Its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case - aimed to address tax liens - was dismissed March 27 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Lubbock.
The operation wasn't bringing in the cash flow needed to fund a Chapter 11 plan, said Max Tarbox, an attorney in Lubbock who represented Conifer Care in its bankruptcy case.
Conifer Care filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sept. 6, and the Internal Revenue Service filed a claim Sept. 22 for $3,143,621.14.
Tarbox said the dismissal of the Chapter 11 case placed Conifer Care in the same situation it had been in before the bankruptcy. The dismissal lifted the stay against creditors.
"There's nobody here that you can talk with about that," a woman who identified herself only as Lisa said in response to a call Tuesday afternoon to the Conifer Care office in Lubbock.
Some employees of the Conifer Care-owned centers in Wichita Falls previously complained of checks that bounced beginning in 2004, a September 2006 Times Record News article reported. Other articles also addressed worries about a drop in supplies and issues surrounding nonpayment of a food vendor. The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services reported that a March 2006 inspection did not show a shortage of food or supplies.
James Jewell, who operated Conifer Care, told the Times Record News in 2006 that similar facilities across the state face struggles resulting from a lack of reimbursement.
Burnett said Tuesday she and her husband had applied for the necessary licensing, and vendor arrangements were taken care of.
She said she hopes that everyone will see that things will get better.
"We're here to see that the residents' needs are met," she said.
Reporter Jessica Langdon can be reached at (940) 763-7530 or by e-mail at langdonj(at)TimesRecordNews.com.
