A slumping county-owned Illinois nursing home may soon look to the local hospital operator to help turn things around.

Board members in Peoria County just gave the go-ahead for Heddington Oaks  to begin negotiating with OSF Healthcare on a 120-day partnership agreement. That would allow the 13-hospital, Peoria-based chain to bring aboard a licensed, full-time nursing home administrator to run the facility, after it has gone through several leaders in recent years.

Heddington Oaks has struggled recently, with only 165 of its 214 of its beds occupied, the Journal Star reports.  It’s projected to lose nearly $3 million this year, and another $2 million in 2019.

OSF plans to conduct a “financial deep dive” to seek out ways to boost the home’s resident census, collect on unpaid bills and improve the facility’s quality ratings. County officials are uncertain what the hospital system’s role may be after the 120-day partnership, but they are also crafting a possible framework for further collaboration, if they choose to do so later this year.

County Administrator Scott Sorrel noted in the report that about 90% of its residents were referred through OSF. It has been hurt recently, however, with another local hospital chain, UnityPoint Health, opening its own skilled-nursing facility.