Photos: Small town says goodbye to its nursing home

Good Samaritan Center
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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