Gosnold Selling Its Nantucket Office, But Vows Expanded Island Presence

Gosnold Behavioral Health is selling its Nantucket office at Keypost Corner, but the agency said it is not leaving the island and vowed to expand its substance abuse and mental health services on Nantucket.

Gosnold quietly put its office at 35 Old South Road on the market at the end of March. The property is listed for sale at $1.049 million. But, according to Danae Young, Gosnold’s senior director of operations, that should not be interpreted as an indication the behavioral health provider is pulling out of the island.

“Gosnold maintains its commitment to Nantucket,” Young told the Current. “We not only intend to maintain our presence and services on the island but to expand them. Gosnold is actively seeking office space to rent that better meets the need of the current program and there will be no lapse in services provided during this transition.”

Gosnold, which is headquartered on Cape Cod where it operates numerous treatment centers, acquired its Nantucket property at no charge in 2017 when it took over the non-profit Access Nantucket, the agency that grew out of the former Nantucket AIDS Network.

The sale of the building, Young said, will provide Gosnold with the funding necessary to continue providing its existing services on Nantucket, while also pursuing new ventures and opportunities.

“Gosnold is working to secure funds to implement services in Nantucket’s schools and emergency rooms and has submitted a Letter of Intent with (the) Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership (MBHP) to be the Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC) on Nantucket,” Young said in an e-mail. “This CBHC will further support Nantucket’s residents in connecting to care by adding services such as community-based behavioral health crisis assessment, intervention, stabilization, and follow-up that bring a mobile, on-site, face-to-face therapeutic response to those experiencing a behavioral health crisis.”

Jason Bridges, the executive director of Fairwinds, Nantucket’s Counseling Center, declined to comment on the potential sale of Gosnold’s building, but said he was unaware the agency had submitted a letter of intent to be the island’s Community Behavioral Health Center.

Gosnold currently serves as the regional contractor for the state’s Emergency Services Program (crisis services) on Nantucket, provides some outpatient therapy services on-island, operates a 24-7 mental health crisis hotline, and provides evaluation for people who are enrolled in MassHealth, uninsured, and youth, regardless of payer. It recently started a Structured Outpatient Addiction Program (SOAP) in collaboration with NAMI on Nantucket.

But if Gosnold’s intention is to expand services on the island, why give up its existing property that it already owns outright? And given that the building was acquired by Gosnold at no-cost from a community organization, what assurances are there that the proceeds will remain on-island to benefit Nantucketers?

“What this means for Nantucket is that Gosnold will have the budget to increase its presence and its services on-island,” Young responded in a message to the Current. “Gosnold is a nonprofit, as you know, and this money will help widen its array of services on Nantucket, as well as supporting other needs on Cape Cod. The money is not specifically earmarked but will absolutely be used to set up and sustain the relaunch of the existing services at our new location and it will fund the addition of our new services on island.”

Beyond the letter of intent to become a CBHC, Gosnold is applying for funding from the Community Foundation for Nantucket, exploring a take over of the Nantucket Family Resource Center, and has submitted grant requests to three private foundations in Massachusetts, Young said.