Armour nursing home announces permanent closure in October
ARMOUR, S.D. — Armour’s long- and short-term care nursing facility is planning to close permanently in October, adding to a growing list of closing nursing homes in South Dakota.
“It was a difficult decision to close Avantara Armour,” said Connie Ortega, an Avantara spokesperson, which is the company that manages the Armour facility. “Unfortunately, the lack of staffing resources and continued impact of COVID-19 created an environment where we can no longer keep the doors open.”
The announcement of yet another closure of a nursing facility comes as no shock, however, as the lack of funding for years is finally catching up to them.
According to the South Dakota Health Care Association, “More than 10% of licensed nursing facilities in South Dakota have closed their doors in the last five years.” Other recent closures include centers in Huron, Madison, Mobridge, Tripp, Sioux Falls, and Salem, where, earlier this year, a derecho tore the roof off of the facility and forced residents to be relocated to the Armour facility.
The SDHCA said that the amount of closures can be blamed on the ongoing underfunding of Medicaid, the nation-wide staffing crisis and costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the full story from Mitchell Republic here.
