The first in a series of meetings was held about the future of the Albany County nursing home. County Executive Dan McCoy wants a private company to take over the home. Erin Vannella has more on what was discussed at the meeting.

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ALBANY COUNTY, N.Y. -- The first public hearing was held to discuss the future of the Albany County nursing home.

Albany County Executive Dan McCoy wants to privatize the nursing home, a move he says will save Albany County taxpayers more than $100 million over the next ten years. A proposed lease agreement is already in place with Upstate Services Group to take control of the home.

Members of the public who attended the meeting had a wide range of opinions, with some calling the idea good government, while others say they feel privatization would be good only for the company taking control.

“I always say to people, look behind that money, there are people, they are human beings, frail, elderly, disabled, mentally ill,” said Albany resident E. Nancy Wiley.

“It is good government, because if you look at every county that runs a nursing home in the state of New York, they're hemorrhaging money and you can’t do that. That's why it's good government to privatize it,” East Berne resident Thomas CAvanagh said.

Upstate Services Group owns 11 nursing homes in New York State. As part of the lease agreement, they would keep all nursing home patients, but opponents of the plan worry that there would be significant staffing cuts.