Updated, June 24
In a landmark moment for the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, and drawing attention from state and local representatives, the ribbon was officially cut on a multi-unit workforce housing project on the same grounds as a planned assisted-living facility on Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road.
The housing project, which is adjacent to Navigator Homes skilled nursing facility, is projected to have 48 units of housing and 76 bedrooms for hospital staff, who are expected to start moving into the housing units as soon as July.
“We are building a foundation for the future,” Denise Schepici, the president of Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, said in a speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The project began in earnest in 2021 when zoning approval was granted by the Edgartown planning board, but has been in the works for about six years total. And for Schepici, Friday’s ceremony was the culmination of a lot of hard work — which her colleagues recognized by unveiling an outdoor seating area and plaque in her honor on the property.
The three apartment complexes and adjacent townhouses — unveiled in full on Friday afternoon — were funded by donors and Massachusetts General Brigham medical group. They span nine acres, and are located off of Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road in a sprawling development that is barely visible from the street. According to speeches on the day, around $29.4 million has been raised so far to fund the efforts for workforce housing, with $600,000 to go in order to complete it.
“We’re a lot closer to having people live here,” Michael Cosgrave, the chief administrative officer and pioneer in the project, said in an interview on Friday.
The slate-gray exterior of each apartment complex is bound by winding garden paths and small driveways. And inside, each apartment is fully furnished — from sofas with decorative couch cushions to white ceramic dishes in the cupboards.
The project was also praised for being constructed with high density and low impact in mind. Multiple single-family dwellings make a larger, long-term dent on the environment than a few multi-unit buildings in rural areas where housing is scarce. Housing experts have warned against leaning on single dwellings to reach supply goals for this reason. A multi-unit project like the hospital workforce housing doesn’t just have implications for the housing crisis, but also the longevity of future housing projects to come, and their impact on the natural environment surrounding.
“These smaller-footprint, multi-unit projects ensure that urgent housing needs are met while preserving the beauty of the Island roads district and protecting the untouched continuity of surrounding habitat,” the Martha’s Vineyard Commission said in a statement to The Times. “This is a vital project … and we thank the M.V. Hospital for bringing this project to the community.”
As for the people who will live in these apartments — both one- and two-bedroom units — hospital employees looking for housing will be entered into a lottery, conducted by the Dukes County Housing Authority. Hospital executives said their staff has long been struggling to find housing on the Island, with nurses and doctors reportedly moving away due to high costs of rent, or simply not being able to find an apartment at all.
Navigator Homes and the adjacent project have been praised by legislators and lawmakers across Massachusetts for advocacy for workforce housing and a willingness to address what housing experts are calling an extreme shortage.
Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll attended the ceremony on Friday, and spoke in support of the project — mainly about its potential efficacy in addressing housing-insecure workers.
“Housing is the No. 1 issue in Massachusetts,” Driscoll said. “We have a huge challenge that … has been decades in the making. We just haven’t built enough housing.”
Driscoll went on to say projects like this one make a difference in the current landscape of crisis — providing units to those who are contributing members of the community. According to her, a collective effort is needed to move forward, epitomized in large projects like the hospital workforce housing.
“Our administration has decided we can’t just admire the problem anymore,” Driscoll said. “We have to lean in.”
A lead physician’s assistant at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, Anthony Piland Sr., also spoke to the immediate need of housing for workers, young families, and even longtime Islanders.
“Everytime we lose someone because of housing, it affects everyone,” Piland said. “For a lot of people who want to live here and work here … who want to give their lives to this community, the doors are closed.”
Piland addressed the donors and hospital executives at the side of a makeshift stage: “Thank you for caring — not just about healthcare, but about the people who deliver it.”
But it’s not just the healthcare field that’s experiencing a shift in its workforce due to housing shortages. The seasonality of the Island economy has long inspired short-term rental use, backyard tent setups, and couch-surfing. But some locals have pointed out a difference this year from others: even when the funds are there, the housing isn’t.
Tiffany McCarty, a nurse educator at the hospital, spoke to the difficulty of finding an apartment after moving to the Island in 2022. After finding stability upon moving here for her new job at the hospital, she and her wife have housing right now, but when their lease is up, they’ll be swept up in the Island shuffle with many other locals — unable to see a way forward due to low supply.
She spoke on the potential security of the Navigator Homes project in a speech to the crowd — for people like her, who want to not only survive on the Island, but contribute, build, and cultivate community — being able to put down roots and have the security of a housing unit would be a game-changer.
“Affordable workplace housing is not a policy issue, it’s a personal one,” McCarty said.
The generosity of the Norton family should also be thanked. Without them and their goodwill towards the island this never would’ve happened.
It’s great that Navigator Homes will provide housing for hospital staff, but would you let us know a little more about what “aging locals” are eligible to live there? When the project was just getting off the ground, it seemed that it was aimed at individuals with “private insurance,” as opposed to long-time Vineyarders who are largely dependent on Medicare and Social Security. Reports over the years have been somewhat sketchy about this, so it would be good to know who actually can hope to live there at some point.
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