LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska nursing home located on the border with South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation will begin accepting Native American residents next year to ease a severe care shortage in one of the nation’s poorest regions.

The president of the Native American Health Management LLC said Wednesday that the facility will serve Oglala Sioux Tribe members.

Ron Ross says he expects the first residents in February or March. The facility is under construction in Whiteclay, a Nebraska village on the South Dakota border that is known for selling millions of cans of beer each year to residents of the dry reservation.

The facility will have 60 beds, with room to expand to 80. Tribe members say it will allow some elderly to live close to relatives and their culture.