CUSTER, S.D. — Custer Market President Mark Schmidt announced Monday that the Custer Care Center will close once residents can find alternative housing.
The decision, made by Monument Health’s Board of Directors, is based on a “tight job market”; Schmidt says the decision is “neither a financial decision nor a recent development.”
In a release, Schmidt stated; “Given the tight local job market, we’ve relied heavily on traveling nurses, traveling certified nursing aides and international workers to safely maintain care at the Custer facility,” Schmidt says. “With the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re facing intense competition for travelers, and immigration challenges make it nearly impossible at this time to recruit internationally.”
The Center, located on Montgomery Street in Custer, has fewer than half its 76 beds occupied at this time, according to Monument Health officials.
No date has been set for the closure; the Center will remain open until all residents are placed elsewhere.
