The selection of Jim Roddey, former Allegheny County chief executive, and two health care management professionals to serve on a board to review whether the county's Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center should be sold is a good move by the county commissioners.

Roddey, who now serves on the board of directors of Vocollect Healthcare Systems, had experience dealing with Allegheny County's Kane nursing home. Major efforts were put into the Kane nursing home by Allegheny County to modernize the facility, improve business practices and create a better environment for patients and staff.

That experience and Roddey's extensive business background will bring expertise and sound judgment to the study of Sunnyview's operation conducted by Carbis Walker, a Pittsburgh-based accounting and consulting company with expertise in the health care field.

Joining Roddey on the review committee will be Bryan Randall, vice president and chief financial officer of Heritage Valley Health System in Beaver County, and Trudi Stafford, vice president of patient care services of UPMC Passavant.

Roddey, Randall and Stafford will bring strong health care, management and business backgrounds to the Sunnyview analysis.

Another plus is fact that they are people from outside Butler County, allowing them to review the Sunnyview operations without any bias or prejudice. And with a range of vested interests and emotions connected to any decision on selling Sunnyview, the unbiased expertise available from this review board was a smart decision by Dale Pinkerton, board chairman, and his fellow commissioners James Kennedy and James Lokhaiser.

The committee should be able to provide Pinkerton and his fellow commissioners with a professional analysis, untainted by vested interests, politics, history or emotion.

One issue to be examined is surely Sunnyview's financial viability. Does the facility cost taxpayers money or does it make a profit for the county? If it does lose money, can it be managed in a way that will end the taxpayer subsidies?

Examining the Carbis Walker report, it is possible that the committee members will find opportunities to make Sunnyview more efficient and maybe profitable.

But beyond the issue of whether the nursing home facility makes a profit or loses money, there is the fundamental issue of whether running a nursing home is a core function of county government. Historically, it has been a common practice. But as the management of county government has grown more complex and demanding, it's worth asking whether operating a nursing home is still considered an essential county government function.

Deciding what to do with Sunnyview should be based on facts and careful analysis. The decision should not be influenced by emotion or politics. By bringing in Roddey and the two health care management professionals to analyze the Carbis Walker report, the Butler County commissioners are giving every indication that that is how they intend to approach the issue.

Pinkerton says a final report from the committee could come by the end of November. Whenever a final decision over Sunnyview's future is made by the county commissioners, this process suggests it will be supported by thorough, thoughtful and professional analysis.

Whether they agree or disagree with the commissioners' final decision, voters and taxpayers can't ask for anything more.