ELK POINT, S.D.(WNAX)- Another South Dakota nursing home is closing its doors. In a release, the South Dakota Health Care Association says Prairie Estates Care Center in Elk Point will close as of January 14, 2023. The closure is due to a combination of the ongoing underfunding of Medicaid, the current staffing crisis, and costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

District 17 Representative-elect Bill Shorma of Dakota Dunes says it’s another sign of the times.

Shorma says the legislature may get involved again.

With the addition of this closure, more than twelve percent of licensed nursing facilities in South Dakota will have closed their doors in the last five years. Other recent closures include centers in Armour, Salem, Lennox, Clear Lake, Ipswich, Custer, Hudson, Sioux Falls, Huron, Madison, Mobridge, Tripp, Bryant, and Rosholt.