State Rep. Thomas Moakley, who represents the Island on Beacon Hill, announced in a Monday afternoon press release that he has successfully earmarked $3.8 million in the state budget for Navigator Homes, and $70,000 for Island Elderly Housing.
The funding will be used to purchase generators for Elderly Housing, and will help the Navigator project with long-term costs.
The funding still needs to be passed in the state Senate before a final package is submitted to Gov. Maura Healey.
“I am grateful for the leadership of Chairman Tom Stanley, Chairman Aaron Michlewitz, and Speaker Ronald Mariano, who recognize the unique needs that older adults face in an isolated community like the Vineyard,” Moakley said in the release. “I am excited to play a small role in helping Navigator Homes to the finish line.”
Navigator Homes is a nursing facility designed to serve senior citizens. On the same site, housing for Martha’s Vineyard Hospital employees is also being built. The facility, expected to open by December, consists of five houses with private rooms and bathrooms, totaling 70 units. According to the release, this will be the first “small house model” nursing facility on the Vineyard.
The release states that the state funding was “essential for long-term viability,” since Navigator Homes cannot offset Medicaid shortfalls through short-term Medicare rehabilitation stays. This is because the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital operates a swing bed unit under its critical access hospital designation, the release states. A critical access hospital is a designation given to hospitals in “rural or geographically remote places” and allows certain beds to be used by a skilled nursing facility.
Meanwhile, Island Elderly Housing’s $70,000 will be used to install emergency generators at “three of IEH’s more isolated buildings.”
