It's welcome news that things are looking up at Sunnyview, the county-owned nursing home. Following a recent shakeup in management, occupancy has increased to 93 percent from 83 percent, where it stood just a few months ago.

Other changes are in the works, including significant improvements to the facility. Recent developments all seem to be moving in a positive direction.

Turning around Sunnyview is important to county taxpayers because the former "county home" is still owned and operated by the county. In many other counties, in Pennsylvania and other states, one-time county homes are now either privately owned or privately operated - in some cases, both.

With renewed attention on Sunnyview this summer, and with a planned $2 million investment in taxpayer dollars to help improve and modernize the facility, this would be a good time for county officials to explore privatization options for the county home.

Historically, county homes were created to care for and house poor residents. Butler County created its county home in 1900, when there was a clear need for a government facility to take care of poor citizens who were ailing or elderly and had nowhere else to turn. There might still have been a need for a county home ten or twenty years ago, and long waiting lists during those times would seem to confirm the need.

But today, times have changed. There are many options for seniors and their families, and there is no longer a waiting list at Sunnyview. It is now appropriate for county officials to re-examine the need to own and operate a nursing home.

Today, there are scores of nursing homes across the county, operated by both non-profit and for-profit organizations. Some, especially the non-profits, are quite large, others are smaller. These non-government nursing home facilities provide many options for Butler County seniors - and competition for Sunnyview.

The many options available today suggest that the market has responded to the needs of the county's elderly. The fact that Sunnyview, where a waiting list was once common, is now boasting about increasing its occupancy from 83 percent to 93 percent, confirms that there are now many viable alternatives for seniors and their families.

Running a nursing home is not a simple job. Increasingly complex government rules and regulations complicate an already-difficult task. Operating a health-care facility requires significant expertise and it not a core function of county government.

With all their other responsibilities, our county commissioners might benefit from not having to spend time and energy on Sunnyview issues. And county taxpayers might appreciate not having to pick up the tab when the county home fails to make a profit.

It is also possible that last year's $1.3 million operating loss at Sunnyview might not have happened had the facility been operated by a private organization more concerned with avoiding operating losses. But even if losses were incurred due to slumping occupancy, it would not be a taxpayer concern if the home were privately owned or operated.

For these and other reasons, officials in nearby Lawrence, Mercer and Venango counties have opted out of having county-owned-and-operated nursing homes.

Butler County should examine its options, which might include a direct sale or a lease arrangement through which the facility is managed by one of the larger nursing home operators in the area - such as Concordia, Lutheran Affiliated Services (LAS) or St. Barnabas - in exhange for lease payments to the county. There might be other options, including an operating arrangement with Butler Memorial Hospital, though that organization seems to have more than enough on its table at this time.

Continuing to own and operate a county nursing home because "that's the way it's been done for 100 years" is no longer a sufficient reason. County officials should explore other options and talk with elected leaders in other counties who have already privatized their county homes.

Positive news at Sunnyview is welcome, but it might be that details of the county home's operation should no longer be on the county commissioners' agenda.