If you’ve driven down 6th Avenue past the St. Cloud Hospital, chances are you’ve seen CentraCare Gorecki Guest House on the right-hand side. This beautiful house provides home-away-from-home lodging for family and friends who have a loved one receiving medical care in the St. Cloud area. Christine Midthun, Gorecki Guest House Supervisor shared information about the history and offerings they bring to our communities.
“The guest house can remove the burden of finding lodging with comfortable accommodations. CentraCare Gorecki Guest House is conveniently located right across the street from the St. Cloud Hospital.” The 28-room guest house features private bathrooms, family-style kitchens, dining rooms to accommodate family meals, large living spaces that promote relaxation and recharge, an exercise and laundry room, free parking, and guest Wi-Fi.
“St. Cloud Hospital’s original hospitality house was River Oaks operated near the north end of the hospital. This was a 5-bedroom house that opened in October 1996 and operated until Spring 2008. River Oaks closed as the hospital was expanding and there was a need for a larger hospitality house. This was an opportunity to expand and improve the hospitality services provided versus constantly having to turn families away because of space and need. CentraCare Gorecki Guest House opened to its first guests on June 15, 2009. The guest house was built on philanthropy made possible by the generous contributions of Benedict and Dorothy Gorecki and many other donors. The house originally opened with twelve guest rooms with private bathrooms, large common areas, and cooking facilities. Seven years after the first gift from the Gorecki’s, they made another generous donation to expand and add sixteen more rooms. In November 2015, the house expanded from 12 to 28 rooms and added guest laundry and two TV lounges.”
“Since CentraCare’s Gorecki Guest House opened in 2009, the house has served more than 30,000 guests from all 87 counties in Minnesota, 49 states (just missing only Rhode Island!), plus 13 countries. Our ‘house helps and heals’ by reducing stress for families, allowing loved ones to focus on healing. The guest house operates at an average occupancy of 75%, last year, we served over 9,100 families with short-term lodging.”
While the Guest House does charge a modest fee, the guest fees help defray some of the operating costs, the remaining expenses are met through financial contributions from individuals and the community. Guests are never turned away for lack of ability to pay and financial assistance is available to qualified guests. The Gorecki Guest House is a proud member of the Healthcare Hospitality Network (HHN).
“Often when the families arrive, they are under a great deal of stress and very concerned about their loved one, we can provide a quiet place for them to stay and get some reprieve. Our staff and volunteers provide a welcoming environment and support while staying here supporting their loved one. The families frequently tell us how fortunate they feel to have had the guest house here to stay while they were dealing with the medical issues of their loved ones. We are one less stressor for the families – the gratitude and success stories we hear from families that have stayed here is very rewarding.”
Locally, CentraCare Gorecki Guest House partners with a variety of organizations. “We work with United Way and often host Day of Caring projects; Xcel Energy Day of Service provides a team of volunteers every fall to help with our clean-up. In the past, Girl & Boy Scout troops have done different service projects that benefit our guests. We do see some churches that provide some in-kind and monetary donations for the guest house. Many of our donations come from previous guests that have used our services.”
“We welcome monetary donations that can sponsor individual night stays for guests that are not able to afford to stay here. We also welcome individuals to volunteer at the house and provide in-kind donations. Some of the in-kind donations we are looking for include coffee, tea, bottled water, juice boxes, grab & go snacks, and gift certificates (Sam’s Club, Costco, Walmart, Target, or Amazon). We don’t provide nightly meals at the guest house but do provide continental breakfast items. If groups are interested, we’d love to be able to work with local restaurants to sponsor a meal that could be delivered and served at the Guest House.”
“We welcome individuals, businesses, and service groups to take a tour of the house to find out more about us and figure out ways they can support the Guest House. We want people to know about us and the service we provide. We are always looking for advocates in our local community to share our good news with your neighbors, friends, family members, community service organizations, and businesses.
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