After 31 years of excellent community service, a high profile Morongo Basin non-profit will be closing its doors. Morongo Basin Hospice, MBH, announced today they will disband the organization and will be moving out of their central Joshua Tree location. Hospice Board President Cathy Itnyre said Hospice of the Morongo Basin started in 1982 specifically to train hospice volunteers for both the Hi-Desert Medical Center and Visiting Nurses Association. The organization survived on private donations, fundraisers and specialized grants because of their affiliation with the health care facilities. About five years ago Visiting Nurses chose to train their own volunteers and cut ties with MBH. Recently, Hi-Desert Medical Center also cut ties, choosing to keep the training for their hospice program in-house. Without an affiliation to a health care facility, Morongo Basin Hospice was no longer eligible for training grants. Itnyre told Z107.7, “We simply ran out of options, without the grants we can not sustain the organization.” In announcing the closing Itnyre said,
“It is an awfully sad day. A Hospice built on such high hopes has become another victim of these changing times.”
MBH Executive Director Robin Ruggeri said they are hoping to sell the Hospice of Morongo Basin office spaces and profitable thrift shop operation to another local non-profit,
“We are hoping we can get another non-profit in to our facilities to continue to serve the communities of the Morongo Basin.”
Itnyre said it will take about two months to formally dissolve the operations of the non-profit and liquidate their assets.
