We Take Care Of Our Own

To the editor:  Kudos to the Finance Committee for recognizing the moral issue of approving the new Our Island Home. To quote Hubert Humphrey, “The ultimate moral test of any government is the way it treats three groups of its citizens. First, those in the dawn of life – our children. Second, those in the shadows of life – our needy, our sick, our handicapped. Third, those in the twilight of life – our elderly.”

I never thought much about Our Island Home. Tucked down out of the way behind the Landmark House on Lower Orange Street, it’s been out of sight, out of mind. It’s one of those places; you don’t need it until you need it.

The Landmark House was the original OIH facility. In 1975, the Board of Selectmen appointed a committee “to determine the present and future needs” of OIH. After considering the rehabilitating the wooden building, the existing structure was built in 1980.

Forty years later, the Town hired certified nursing home consultants to evaluate the current facility and services. Their findings determined that the building did not meet the new health codes and Medicare/Medicaid regulations. It was also determined that for a building upgrade, residents would have to vacate the facility and there wasn’t enough room for a new structure.

In 2016 plans were drafted for a new Our Island Home in a new location. It became a very emotional topic based on “the view”. The plans were presented and voted down at the Annual Town Meeting in 2017. At the 2022 Town Meeting, the voters approved Article 11 to move OIH to Sherburne Commons. The Select Board on August 18, 2021, voted the site will not be sold but will eventually be the location for a new Saltmarsh Senior Center.

Over the years, the voters have supported a long-term care facility on the island by voting for overrides to pay the staff and keep putting band-aids on the building. Our community understands the value of housing our sick and infirm needing 24x7 nursing care. Generations of Nantucketers have occupied those beds and were lovingly cared for by the dedicated and loving staff of Our Island Home, many with more than 10 years of service. They fought to keep Covid away during the pandemic and won!! Not one case occurred during that critical pre-vaccine time. They were our heroes.

So here we are in 2025, design plans have been completed and a new Our Island Home is finally on the horizon. We can’t compare the costs today to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital rebuild or even the Martha’s Vineyard Navigator Homes long term care building. Both of these were built 2 or more years ago.

Today, it’s all about the money, not the view. The taxpayers are facing many other large ticket items. How can our small town continue to own and operate a nursing home?

But, it’s not JUST a nursing home. It will also offer short term rehabilitation and respite care for residents and their families. People who were our teachers, mail deliverers, butchers, nurses, and others who served our community, paid taxes here for so many years to help build our new schools and public safety buildings and paid our Town employees' salaries.

We will eventually lose Our Island Home unless there is a vote in favor of a new one at the Annual Town Meeting in May 2025. The price has doubled while we have been arguing about the design, the location, and if we need one. It will be one more piece of the fabric of our community that will be lost forever.

How can we afford it? Maybe we have “angels” waiting in the wings that will help reduce the cost to the taxpayers. They could be our new heroes and the doors to a new home can open as planned in December 2027.

Kathy Grieder
President, Friends of Our Island Home