The recent closure of the 33-bed Good Samaritan Center in Hoffman, Minn., leaves Grant County with just one nursing home, in nearby Barrett. The closure also means Hoffman has lost its largest employer, and local residents are still coming to terms with the repercussions. This photograph of the center in Hoffman was made on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013.
Ann Arbor Miller / For MPR News
Residents of the small town of Hoffman in western Minnesota were stunned and dismayed this fall when the Good Samaritan Society announced it was closing the town's nursing home. The home was Hoffman's largest employer and it left its residents having to move away from the town many had lived for decades.
Hoffman has often been held up as an example of a small town finding ways to keep the community vibrant, and economic development director Muriel Krusemark is generally at the center of revitalization efforts. She called the nursing home closing a blow but vowed to carry on her mission.
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The recent closure of the 33-bed Good Samaritan Center in Hoffman, Minn., leaves Grant County with just one nursing home, in nearby Barrett. The closure also means Hoffman has lost its largest employer, and local residents are still coming to terms with the repercussions. This photograph of the center in Hoffman was made on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013.
Ann Arbor Miller / For MPR News
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Jeanne Gunderson, 87, was the first resident to leave the Good Samaritan Center in Hoffman, Minn., after plans to close the nursing home were announced unexpectedly in early October. Gunderson, like many others, moved to the privately owned Barrett Care Center in Barrett, Minn., which is located 7 miles away. "It's OK," said Gunderson. "I miss my friends."
Ann Arbor Miller / For MPR News
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Just three names remain listed in the resident directory at the Good Samaritan Center in Hoffman, Minn., on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013. The nursing home's last resident left for another facility that morning. The center recently closed. "It was one of the best nursing homes around," said longtime nurse Jelene Backman. "We went five years without raises. People stayed because they loved it."
Ann Arbor Miller / For MPR News
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