Let’s put an end to a growing misperception. Selling Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to a private operator is not the same thing as killing or even weakening it; rather, privatization might be the best move to preserve the Butler County-owned nursing home.

Sunnyview is losing money. Employees, who are represented by SEIU Healthcare, will vote Tuesday on a request to reopen their four-year-contract and negotiate concessions to reduce or eliminate the operating deficit.

It would be irresponsible to imply here that the union is spreading erroneous ideas that privatization will harm or kill Sunnyview. On the other hand, employees have no obligation to dispel such notions, either.

Commissioners got a taste of the sell-it-and-kill-it view during Wednesday’s business meeting when Sunnyview resident Kathryn Kirkwood presented a petition with 150 signatures asking them to keep Sunnyview as a county asset. “No one wants to see it sold,” Kirkwood said from her wheelchair. “We need stability in our golden years.”

But the truth is that the home is more of a county liability than an asset. The 200-bed home cost $19.3 million to operate in 2012 and brought in $18.1 million, for a net loss of about $800,000. It is budgeted to lose another $1.5 million this year.

Other counties facing chronic financial shortfalls have sold their nursing homes to companies that specialize in operating them efficiently and profitably. Proceeds from the sale of Sunnyview could help fund the construction of a proposed county government services annex.

In any proposed sale, bid specifications could be added to protect the county’s interests. A request for proposals could specify the sale would be as-is, thus releasing the county from any deficiencies in the property. The request also could specify the buyer must pledge to continue operating as a senior care facility for a minimum of 10 years or longer; and to honor all collective bargaining agreements involving current Sunnyview employees.

In other words, the county could require any buyer of Sunnyview to maintain all the good things that residents and employees hold dear.

Rather than fight a logical and inevitable sale, Sunnyview’s employees should take advantage of the contract reopener and solidify for themselves a role in the selection of the new owner. In exchange for concessions now, they should negotiate for more security in the future.

A competent labor union is entitled to the compensation commanded by the skills and experience of its members, and competent union members shouldn’t fear change in a marketplace where their skills remain in demand.

Privatization won’t do any harm to Sunnyview or its workers, if they negotiate wisely to defend their value.