"I'm praying for us," says Joan Brochu, 63, a diabetic who has lived in Buttonwood's nursing-home section for six years. She's also president of the residents' council.
"Everyone agrees the treatment they give us is outstanding," Brochu adds. "We're all worried that the promise won't be kept."
That would be the collective vow made by the freeholders - who individually have kept a rather low public profile about Buttonwood - that any new owner would have to abide by certain conditions.
If a sale goes through after bids are opened March 1, the new owner will have to agree to continue caring for all current residents for the next decade, says county spokesman Ralph Shrom. And during that time, more than half the beds must be set aside for patients from the county or those on Medicare or Medicaid.
"I just hope and pray it stays open," says Neisha Barnes, 51, of Browns Mills. Her husband, Timothy, a paraplegic, has been a patient since 2005.
"If he wasn't getting the proper care," Barnes adds, "I wouldn't be able to sleep at night."
"It's definitely a sad time," says Eve Cullinan, Buttonwood's administrator for the last nine years. "Our hope is that someone with high regard for quality of care will take over if the freeholders decide to sell. I know they don't want to [turn] it over to just anyone who can write a check."
Adam Liebtag, president of Local 1036 of the Communications Workers of America, which represents more than 300 employees at Buttonwood, challenges the notion that the patients are a major concern for the county.
