GREELEY, Colo. — For more than 85 years, one senior living community has been serving generations of families in Greeley. Now in just 60 days, Good Samaritan Society's Bonell Community will close after being sold to a realty company out of California.
Scott Lorenz’s mother is one of the many resident who will have to move out of Bonell.
"Well, first we had anger," he said. "Now I'm just depressed. I feel heaviness in myself."
Lorenz says he holds no anger towards the company. The service has been outstanding, he says. Instead, he is sad for his mother, who just moved in four months ago and will have to move again.
"Just think about you or me moving, period," Lorenz said. "Let alone when you can't even lift your body, can't care for yourself, can't use your own means to go to the toilet."
In a statement, Randy Fitzgerald, executive director of the Good Samaritan Society, said the closure is due to to staffing challenges and a decline in residents.
"The pandemic has put unprecedented stress on the senior care industry, which has forced us to make difficult decisions about how and where we can provide services. Unfortunately, persistent staffing challenges and a decline in the number of residents at our Bonell location in Greeley have led to a situation that is not sustainable. As a result, the Good Samaritan Society-Bonell will close effective March 5, 2022. The closure includes the skilled nursing facility, assisted living facility and senior apartments. We remain committed to the health and well-being of our residents, families and employees, and are providing resources to help them through the transition including finding new homes and care as well as employment opportunities at nearby Good Samaritan Society locations. We look forward to continuing to serve seniors across Northern Colorado."
Still, the closure doesn’t leave Lorenz with many options.
"We've been driving around Greeley and Fort Collins and Windsor and Loveland, and my, the problem is my mother is on Medicaid, so even in the best of circumstances, only about one in four, one in five facilities even accept Medicaid participation," he said.
When it comes to the company that purchased the land, the Good Samaritan Society said, in part, “Warm Springs Realty Holdings is actively working on future plans for the Bonell campus and remains committed to offering high-quality housing options to meet the needs of the community.”
The Good Samaritan Society declined to say how much the property sold for.
