Town hears repeated appeals as Island Nursing Home seeks funding and housing support
June 22, 2026 | Stonington, Hancock County, Maine
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Representatives of the Island Nursing Home (INH) asked Stonington Selectmen on multiple occasions during 2022 for direct town support and clearer reopening plans, saying the facility cannot restart skilled or residential care without outside funding and housing commitments.
Skip Greenlaw and Leon Weed, who spoke for INH at a Nov. 21 meeting, asked the towns for $100,000 to restart operations and described a reported operating deficit. Greenlaw and Weed said financial figures in the INH materials were unclear; the board pressed for updated budgets and documentation. According to the INH representatives, earlier estimates had shown a roughly $500,000 deficit and later testimony from board members said the facility might need up to $700,000 to keep beds available.
"We needed to put up or shut up because we petitioned them to open the facility," Leon Weed said during the Nov. 21 discussion, urging the towns to clarify their positions and potential commitments.
Town Manager (TM) Billings told the board the group would need to follow standard town procedures to place any funding request on a town meeting warrant and that petitions or formal warrant articles would be needed for voter action. Selectmen repeatedly sought more recent financial statements and asked INH representatives for specifics about ongoing operating shortfalls, whether their budgets reflected post‑2019 inflation and the precise uses for requested funds.
Board members and residents discussed related local capacity issues. At an Aug. 22 meeting, INH board member Bill Cohen described ongoing efforts to recruit board members and start a housing meeting to address workforce and employee housing pressures that the nursing home said were driving staffing shortfalls. Selectmen and TM Billings encouraged coordination, but did not record any formal vote to supply direct operating subsidies in the meetings captured in these minutes.
Why it matters: The Island Nursing Home provides local long‑term care capacity on the peninsula; unresolved financial and housing barriers could leave residents without local skilled or residential care, shifting demand to distant facilities and affecting local emergency and social services.
What’s next: Town Manager Billings and selectmen requested up‑to‑date budgets and documentation from INH and said any town funding would require placing a question on a town meeting warrant for voter approval. INH representatives said they would continue outreach to the towns and to potential board members and partners.
Skip Greenlaw and Leon Weed, who spoke for INH at a Nov. 21 meeting, asked the towns for $100,000 to restart operations and described a reported operating deficit. Greenlaw and Weed said financial figures in the INH materials were unclear; the board pressed for updated budgets and documentation. According to the INH representatives, earlier estimates had shown a roughly $500,000 deficit and later testimony from board members said the facility might need up to $700,000 to keep beds available.
"We needed to put up or shut up because we petitioned them to open the facility," Leon Weed said during the Nov. 21 discussion, urging the towns to clarify their positions and potential commitments.
Town Manager (TM) Billings told the board the group would need to follow standard town procedures to place any funding request on a town meeting warrant and that petitions or formal warrant articles would be needed for voter action. Selectmen repeatedly sought more recent financial statements and asked INH representatives for specifics about ongoing operating shortfalls, whether their budgets reflected post‑2019 inflation and the precise uses for requested funds.
Board members and residents discussed related local capacity issues. At an Aug. 22 meeting, INH board member Bill Cohen described ongoing efforts to recruit board members and start a housing meeting to address workforce and employee housing pressures that the nursing home said were driving staffing shortfalls. Selectmen and TM Billings encouraged coordination, but did not record any formal vote to supply direct operating subsidies in the meetings captured in these minutes.
Why it matters: The Island Nursing Home provides local long‑term care capacity on the peninsula; unresolved financial and housing barriers could leave residents without local skilled or residential care, shifting demand to distant facilities and affecting local emergency and social services.
What’s next: Town Manager Billings and selectmen requested up‑to‑date budgets and documentation from INH and said any town funding would require placing a question on a town meeting warrant for voter approval. INH representatives said they would continue outreach to the towns and to potential board members and partners.
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