As visitation on the Island — and hot weather — continue to surge during the busiest month of the year, the largest healthcare facility has lacked air conditioning (AC) in parts of the building for weeks, and the system is currently under repair. A patient at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital (MVH) said there’s been no AC since the start of her stay, and there was no hot water this past weekend.
Administration at MVH, which operates under the umbrella of Mass General Brigham, said in a statement that issues with heating and cooling are being mitigated through external units and system repairs.
An 87-year-old patient, Anne Sylvester of Vineyard Haven, told The Times Monday morning that there wasn’t air conditioning when she arrived at the hospital “four or five days ago” and “no hot water for two to three days now.” Sylvester told The Times around 3 pm on Monday that the hot water was back on, but the AC wasn’t fixed yet.
Sylvester was admitted to the hospital for drug-induced Parkinsonism, which she said is “temporary but very debilitating.” She said her room has been hot during the day without a cool blast of AC to mitigate August temperatures in the low 80s, but at night, it has been much more tolerable. The lack of hot water was also noticeable, she said.
The hospital sent a statement to The Times over email explaining the situation, and said a facility team is handling both the AC and the hot water. They stated that the hospital “began experiencing cooling challenges within limited areas (primarily within older parts of the building)” on Sunday, August 2.
“The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital Facilities team, in conjunction with external vendors, immediately began mitigating the situation, implementing alternative cooling solutions and completing critical repairs,” the statement said. MVH and repair staff installed stand-up AC units in at least four areas of the building, a hospital spokesperson said. They added that at no point were any of the hospital rooms out of acceptable temperature range (70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit).
According to MVH, the hot water was only an issue on Sunday, August 16. They said it affected the skilled nursing care wing and was fixed within a few hours.
“At no time was patient care compromised, and there was no risk to patient safety,” the statement read.
At the hospital this summer, emergency room visits remain on a steady increase compared to years prior. There were 4,306 visits from Memorial Day to July 26 this year, just over 4,300 in 2025 in the same timeframe, and more than 4,200 in 2024. There has also been a spike in tick-related concerns this year across all Islander healthcare centers, and over 300 visits to the emergency room during a heatwave on July Fourth weekend.
The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital stated “additional repairs and improvements remain underway,” in regards to the AC in the building.
Editor’s note: Updated to include additional statements from MVH spokespeople.
