Hospice house facing ‘a lot of hurdles’

Hospice of Murray County Board of Directors Chairman Tom Klein (left) and Jessie Jorgenson, administrator at Hospice of Murray County, hosted a public forum Monday concerning the future of Our House of Tracy. Photo / Per Peterson

Stalled project still a goal for Hospice of Murray County but more money needs to be raised

By Per Peterson

About 40 minutes into Monday night’s information meeting concerning the future of Our House of Tracy hospice house, Dennis Christensen uttered words that are likely on the minds of many Tracy residents: “I get the feeling that there is a distinct possibility that there will not be a house here.”

That sentiment is the result of a delayed project that has been saddled with an increasing price tag, and local residents seem to be growing more and more nervous about the prospect of the house not coming to fruition.

“That is not our mindset at the moment,” countered Hospice of Murray County Board of Directors Chairman Tom Klein. “Unfortunately, it is out there. We’ve got a lot of hurdles to get over to make it happen.”

Fourteen months ago, Hospice House of Murray County announced plans to build a 6,100 square foot, four-bedroom residential house on a one-acre plot northeast of Sanford Tracy. At that time, it was hoped that groundbreaking for the new facility would take place in early 2019. Some infrastructure work at the site did take place in November 2017, but that’s as far as the project has gotten.

See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.