DEER ISLE, Maine — The heads of the now-defunct Island Nursing Home presented a new plan Tuesday to turn the facility into an affordable housing complex for people over the age of 55.
The nursing home shuttered in 2021, joining in a wave of closures resulting in the loss of more than thirty nursing homes across Maine in the last decade.
On Deer Isle, losing a hub of senior activity was especially difficult.
“People that were moving on in life always felt that because this facility had been here for forty years, when they needed it it would be here. And all of a sudden, it's not.” Skip Greenlaw, director of the Island Nursing Home board, said Tuesday.
Greenlaw cited staffing shortages and MaineCare reimbursements that didn’t cover the full cost of nursing care as main reasons for the closure, adding that the move was permanent.
"We've come to the conclusion that we cannot open," he said.
The housing proposal, on the other hand, is in its infancy. The board has hired a civil engineer to conduct a feasibility study and enlisted a private contractor to guide the project.
Though it is early, support is strong among local officials, who see senior housing as the next best thing to reopening the Island Nursing Home.
“I'm not architect enough to know.” Jim Fisher, Deer Isle town manager said. “But if they can make it work, I'm all for it.”
Fisher pressed the board on Tuesday about concrete actions they have taken to move this project along.
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Others, like Stonington town manager Kathleen Billings, emphasized the need for a project that can actually happen. She's getting behind the board's proposal.
“[The project] does have the strongest potential for repurposing the building,” Billings said.
But with roughly $700,000 from the Island Nursing Home to go towards beginning the long road to renovations, the success of the transition from health care facility to affordable living space could ultimately hinge on the financial support of the state and surrounding community. Before that can happen, though, the civil engineer will report their findings in the next few weeks.