Stonington Selectmen Press Island Nursing Home for Financials as Facility Seeks Town Aid

Selectmen convening Dec. 19 and earlier meetings pressed Island Nursing Home board members for clearer finances after INH representatives said the facility could not sustain skilled nursing without outside help.

At the Nov. 21 meeting, INH representatives Skip Greenlaw and Leon Weed asked the towns for $100,000 to restart the facility as residential care only. Greenlaw and Weed framed the request amid disputes over whether prior budget figures reflected pre-inflation costs. "We needed to put up or shut up because we petitioned them to open the facility," Leon Weed said, arguing the community had asked for INH's return.

Town Manager Billings told the board the town would need an explicit town meeting warrant to approve any direct appropriation. Selectmen asked INH leaders for current financial statements and clarification of recurring deficits: the board repeatedly requested up-to-date budgets before considering municipal aid.

The issue returned several times through the summer. At the Aug. 22 meeting, INH leaders described staffing and housing shortages as primary drivers of the facility's instability; one board member said the beds had not been sold but estimated it would take on the order of hundreds of thousands of dollars to preserve bed capacity.

Selectmen repeatedly urged INH to provide audited or current financials and directed TM Billings to confirm what, if any, action could be placed on a town warrant. No formal commitment of town funds was made; board members signaled they would require a formal petition or a warrant item for any appropriation.

Next steps: INH was invited to return with detailed, current financial statements and a clear proposal if it seeks municipal funding or other town action. The selectmen said they would also continue regional coordination on eldercare planning and housing options for staff as part of broader resilience work.