Morgan Lane Assisted Living Facility in Tea shutting down

By Garrett Ammesmaki,

Editor

The Morgan Lane Assisted Living facility in Tea will be closing its doors after being sold to an as-of-yet undisclosed company.

Current residents at the facility were told about the closure at the beginning of the month.

“It’s out of the blue,” said Dwayne Leboldus, a resident of the facility. “But it is what it is.”

Born in 1945, Leboldus has called Morgan Lane home for the past four years. While he is taking the closure in strides, he still doesn’t know where he’s going to end up.

“My daughter has found me a place,” he said, “but I have no idea where she’s going to put me.”

Residents have been given another month to find a new residence, and Leboldus isn't the only one that is unsure of where they will call home in September.

Though he’s accepted that he can’t do anything about it, he said there are some at Morgan Lane who aren’t taking it too well.

Morgan Lane is yet another closure in a string of elderly care facilities that are shutting down across the region and state.

Earlier this month, the Good Samaritan Society of Lennox closed its doors in the midst of staffing shortages and lack of funds to properly upgrade the facility.

But, while the Good Samaritan Society was around 65 years old, Leboldus said that Morgan Lane has only been operating for 15 years.

“This place is in good shape,” he said. “Excellent shape.”

Employees of Morgan Lane were unable to speak on the reason for the closure due to non-disclosure agreements.

The property has been purchased by a private company, but it was previously owned by the Tea Housing and Redevelopment Commission.

THRC board members refused to comment on the closure.

While Leboldus waits to hear from his daughter, the only other surviving member of his family, other residents of Morgan Lane have found new places to live and are waiting on the move.

Kenneth Benthin, 61, has been at Morgan Lane since April. He’s relocating to a smaller facility in Colton, SD.

“I’ve looked at it, and it’s very clean, very efficient, and I think I’m going to like it up there,” he said.

The 61-year-old also knows at least three other people who live at the Colton facility already, and will be roommates with another resident from Morgan Lane.

Benthin agreed that there were no noticeable problems with the facility, beyond some recent issues with staffing and taking care of the floors.

And, while he also is taking the change in strides, he believes the state should do something about it.

"There is such a need for elder people to live in places like this," he said. “I don’t know why the governor didn’t step in and say ‘keep this place open."