Selectmen hear renewed pleas for Island Nursing Home funding; trustees seek $100,000

Representatives of the Island Nursing Home told the Stonington selectmen that the facility faces a substantial operating shortfall and asked the town for $100,000 to help restart the home as a residential-care-only facility.

At the Nov. 21 meeting, board members heard from Skip Greenlaw and Leon Weed, who described a deficit they estimated at roughly $500,000 and said beds remained unsold. Weed urged action, saying petitioners had asked the town to "put up or shut up" after earlier appeals to reopen the facility.

Town Manager Billings and selectmen pressed the trustees for up-to-date financial statements and clarity on whether the town would face recurring requests. The board discussed whether a town-meeting article would be required to authorize any appropriation and asked trustees to prepare the petition and supporting budget detail if they intended to pursue local funding.

The selectmen did not authorize immediate funding; instead they asked the INH board to provide current financials and to return with a specific proposal that could be considered for a town-meeting warrant. Selectmen also noted an ongoing peninsula-wide conversation about elder care and referenced an upcoming meeting of peninsular selectboards to coordinate nursing-home planning.

What happens next: INH trustees were asked to supply up-to-date budgets and to follow the town's petition process if they seek a warrant article. No appropriation was voted at the meetings recorded in the transcript.