By David Fleet

Editor

Goodrich-Plans to put a new occupant in a former village hospice facility by the end of the year have fizzled.

Last month, correspondence from Deb Mock, Executive Director of Behavioral Health at Hope Network, to the village indicated that Genesys Health Systems, owners of the former Goodrich Hospice Care Center, 7280 S. State Road, would not provide enough time for due diligence for the project to move forward. It was therefore not time for the project to feasibly move forward.

Calls to Hope Network were not returned to The Citizen as of presstime on Thursday.

“The property is back for sale,” said Jakki Sidge, village administrator. “People were concerned about Hope Network coming to town and their clients—the building has been vacant for a long time.”

Some residents expressed concern about Hope Network’s clients when they announced interest in the abandoned facility earlier this year. However, despite the opposition by an 8-0 vote on July 25, the village planning commission OK’d Grand Rapids-based Hope Network for a special use permit for the vacant Goodrich Hospice Care Center.

Hope Network is a non-profit Christian organization founded in 1963 to empower people with disabilities or disadvantages to achieve independence. The company provides a continuum of specialized care for those with brain and spinal cord injuries, mental illness, developmental disabilities, and other disadvantages.

On Aug. 8 the village council voted 5-0 to OK the project, following the recommendation of the village planning commission. The facility would have been used for an adult foster care facility with a capacity of 30 beds.

The proposed home in Goodrich would have served a variety of people, including those with a diagnosed mental illness or developmental disability, providing quality care and treatment to help them overcome challenges.

“The old hospice is back on the market now,” added Sidge. “People are starting to express interest in the building.”

The Goodrich Hospice Care Facility has been closed for about three years. In June 2013 Genesys Health Systems announced that it would locate its residential hospice services in Goodrich to a separate, dedicated wing of Genesys Convalescent Center (a skilled nursing facility) in Grand Blanc. At that time, Genesys, like other healthcare facilities across the nation, made changes to help ensure its long-term sustainability in the era of healthcare reform.