CORSICA, S.D. (Mitchell Now) — Community leaders in Corsica say they are determined to keep elder care — and the jobs that depend on it — in their town, despite news that the local nursing home will close Nov. 30.

“The people who live in our facility today are the same people who helped raise the money to build it in the 1960s,” said Luke Bamberg, president of the Corsica Development Corporation. “We owe it to them to do everything we can to keep these doors open and continue offering quality senior care and good jobs in Douglas County.”

Sanford Health announced on Sept. 18 that it would close the Good Samaritan Society nursing home due to staffing shortages. The closure will affect 43 residents and 68 employees. The building, originally opened by the community and the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society in 1962 as Pleasant View Home/Pleasant View Good Samaritan Center, became part of Sanford through a corporate merger in 2019.

Bamberg said the community is moving quickly. “Time is of the essence if we want to keep the jobs, housing and healthcare services that support our town. People are being forced to make decisions fast.”

The CDC, along with other local leaders, began exploring options immediately after the announcement, focusing on ways to continue providing senior care in Corsica.

“We hope to reach an agreement with Sanford to keep the facility open for current and future long-term care patients,” said Logan Denning, president of the Corsica Commercial Club. “But we are also looking at other possibilities — whether that means using the current building differently or identifying a new location for care.”

The Corsica nursing home is the only operating long-term care facility in Douglas County after Armour’s Advantara facility closed in 2022, and was repurposed to address workforce housing and childcare needs.

Corsica leaders remain optimistic that a path forward with Sanford can be found. In the meantime, they are exploring partnerships with other regional healthcare providers to keep skilled nursing services available in the community.

“No option is off the table,” Bamberg said. “We’ve already received promising interest from other healthcare organizations, and we remain hopeful. While this closure feels devastating now, I’m confident that our community will ultimately come out stronger — with a brighter future than we imagined before this setback.”