PRINEVILLE, OR -- Lutheran Community Services (LCS) Northwest will address Crook County Commissioners and the public Wednesday, regarding its plans to buy the former Pioneer Memorial Hospital. The facility has sat vacant since St. Charles opened its new Prineville hospital more than a year ago. 

Scott Willard, Director of the Central Oregon office of LCS, will present the company's five-year plan for the 92,000 sf site. "We currently supply the mental health services for Crook County. We provide substance abuse, mental health counseling, intellectual/developmental disability services and crisis services. And, we are going to relocate all of our services to the Pioneer Memorial Hospital building."

Because the facility is so large, Willard tells KBND News, "We are looking to find a couple of partners. There is a significant amount of space at the Pioneer Memorial Hospital that was obviously old hospital rooms. And, it would be a great fit for a memory care facility or some kind of step-down for seniors who are going through rehab." And, he says another space is ideal for future temporary workforce housing. "There's another portion of the hospital that was the old nursing home and, most recently, the administrative space for the hospital. We're going to be looking for partners that would be interested in developing that as short-term residential space; whether it would be for electricians for Facebook or Apple, up the hill." Those partners would rent space from LCS.