Island Nursing Home leaders ask Stonington selectmen for emergency help as finances remain unclear

Representatives of the Island Nursing Home (INH) told the Stonington Selectmen that the facility faces persistent operating deficits and appealed to the town for financial help, but board members stopped short of approving direct funding at the meetings recorded here.

At a Nov. 21 session Skip Greenlaw and Leon Weed described INH’s financial strain and said reopening or stabilizing the facility would require large sums; Greenlaw and others cited a previously reported deficit figure of about $500,000 and told the board they were seeking municipal support to preserve skilled nursing beds. The board repeatedly requested clearer, updated financial statements and asked INH’s representatives to prepare a formal town‑meeting petition if they want local tax dollars considered.

Town Manager Billings told the board that the town cannot consider any appropriation outside the normal warrant process: ‘‘If the INH requests municipal funding, it must be placed on a warrant for voters to decide,’’ she said, and urged the INH representatives to provide detailed budgets and documentation. At an Aug. 22 meeting INH board member Bill Cohen reiterated the group’s request for housing and noted an estimate that roughly $700,000 would be needed to preserve nursing‑home beds; the selectmen again asked for more precise numbers.

Why it matters: The Island Nursing Home is a key local provider of long‑term care on the peninsula and several Selectmen said loss of beds would shift costs and care needs to other towns. Town action would require clear accounting and formal placement on a town meeting warrant, which the board said it will not do without fuller documentation.

What happened next: Meeting minutes show the Selectmen invited INH representatives to supply audited or up‑to‑date financials and to appear at future meetings; no municipal appropriation or vote appears in the record reviewed here.

Speakers quoted or cited in this article are drawn from the meeting record and include: Skip Greenlaw (INH representative), Leon Weed (INH representative) and Town Manager Billings.

Ending: The Selectmen did not authorize emergency funding in these sessions; they asked INH for clearer financial detail and directed that any funding request be advanced to a town‑meeting article for voter consideration.