The Real Numbers On Our Island Home

To the editor: Once again, a member of the Finance Committee has described Our Island Home as a facility serving a very small number of community members. Anthonie Goudemond is quoted as saying he can't support spending Nantucket taxpayers' money "just on supporting a facility for 45 people."

We have heard this before, so I asked for figures. Our island Home is a 45-bed skilled nursing care facility. There is constant turnover. Some residents live there for years, others for as little as a few days or a week. People doing rehab at OIH are there for a few weeks. For the year 2025, OIH served approximately 90 different people. There were 49 new admissions in 2025, considerably up from 2024, as more Nantucketers are making use of OIH for rehab at home on-island rather than going to a rehabilitation center on the mainland. Medicare reimburses OIH for these rehab patients at a higher rate per day than MassHealth (Medicaid) does for long-term ("custodial") nursing care residents.

There is a sign-in book for visitors to OIH (family members/friends, volunteers, entertainers). Approximately 100 people per week sign in. These are the other community members served by OIH, and they, in turn, are ready and able to serve its residents because they are located right here at home. No price can be put on all they provide for free, and none of it will be available if OIH is closed and Nantucketers in need of skilled nursing in the future are shipped out of reach to distant mainland facilities.

Frances Karttunen
Centre Street