Mendota Lutheran Home to close after 67 years

Staff
Posted 2/19/20

MENDOTA - The Mendota Lutheran Home announced on Feb. 11 that it will be closing.

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Mendota Lutheran Home to close after 67 years

Posted

MENDOTA - The Mendota Lutheran Home announced on Feb. 11 that it will be closing. The following notice was posted on the Lutheran Home’s Facebook page:

“It is with heavy hearts the Administration, Staff and Board of Mendota Lutheran Home announce the closing of the facility.

Our dedicated staff have faced: community rumors, an aging facility, dwindling census, rising costs, and low reimbursement rates. In these changing times stand alone, non-for-profit homes face difficulty remaining a viable choice.

While change is always difficult we are especially saddened by these circumstances. A reasonable transition period is expected. The Mendota Lutheran Home sincerely thanks the families and community for 67 wonderful years.”

The Mendota Lutheran Home opened in 1951 as a retirement home. The Harris Hospital was purchased that year through aid from the Evangelical Lutheran Society for Christian Charities. On Feb. 3, 1952, the home was dedicated in a service at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Mendota. The following year, the Mendota Lutheran Home was incorporated with not-for-profit status.

Because the MLH board of directors envisioned a much larger facility than the hospital building provided, they began buying properties to the east and north for future expansion. In March 1963, a new two-story addition opened expanding the home’s capacity to 43 residents.

Expansion continued and in 1971, a center unit was dedicated. In the spring of 1976, the decision was made to demolish the old Harris Hospital building and that fall, the old building was replaced by the north unit, which included an activity room and brought resident capacity to 100. In 1983, a solarium, conference room, and employee lounge were added on the south side and a west wing was added in 1995.

As of 2016, the Mendota Lutheran Home was licensed for 113 residents and the non-profit MLH Corporation was made up of 14 Lutheran churches.