EBENSBURG -- Three years ago, the Cambria County run nursing home was considered a drain on the county budget. Now it seems, that just isn't the case

For the 4th year in a row, Laurel Crest has turned a profit. For 2005, it was 2.5 million dollars in the black. 10 million dollars in improvements are in the works.

Cambria County Commissioner P.J. Stevens says one reason for this profit is due to their reimbursement rate. The nursing facility gets more money back due to their increased population and for specialized patients. Some of this profit will be saved for a rainy day or incase the reimbursement rates lower, but the majority of this year's profit will go back into Laurel Crest to make the home a better place for the residents.

Things turned around. The last four years it has profited and of course it's great news, but yet caution is involved and that is we have to do some catch-up, invest a lot of the profits back into infrastructure and aesthetics of the building, says Commissioner Stevens.

Among those improvements taking place will make the facility more energy efficient, putting in a respiratory unit, and putting in new nursing stations.

Rich Klindworth, Channel 6 News.