DEER ISLE, Maine (AP) — A task force wants to reopen a nursing home on Deer Isle but the island must first solve an affordable housing crisis, officials said.
The task force was formed after the Island Nursing Home announced in August that it would be closing, blindsiding the community and providing a hole in services for older residents, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Since the closure announcement, the task force has been assessing the nursing home’s housing needs, the community’s existing housing stock, state and local zoning, and potential workforce housing opportunities.
Deer Isle, Stonington, Brooklin and Blue Hill are among several Hancock County towns that all rank as some of the least affordable places in Maine.
The lack of housing has made things tough.
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The nursing home had between 26 and 28 people decline job offers because they could not find housing in the area, said Ronda Dodge, the president of the nursing home board.
Any reopening would depend on some sort of commitment from local landlords to rent homes at affordable rates while the housing situation is addressed, said Sam Harrington, chair of the task force.
“The community must come together with long-term commitments of money, time, real estate housing and other forms of support,” he said.
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