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County delegates: New nursing facility a possibility

By Patrick Adrian
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NEWPORT — Just one year ago Sullivan County officials were proposing an extensive renovation project to modernize the Sullivan County nursing home. Now the Sullivan County delegates are strongly considering scrapping the renovation proposal and building a new facility instead.

The delegation held a public hearing Monday night for county residents to weigh in on two project options, both aimed to significantly improve the nursing home’s energy and operating efficiency and align the residential spaces with modern standards.

Currently the delegates are only considering a $49 million total renovation project that would replace or overhaul the oldest buildings that comprise the facility to create a more energy-efficient building and expand overall space to meet modern federal and state regulations for assisted living facilities and provide more family meeting areas. The design would also redistribute nurse workstations to allow staff to stay closer to their patients, reduce the resident-to-bathroom ration from 4:1 to 2:1, and redesign the facility entry to create more community space and offices for the county commissioners.

But in 2019 the project’s conceptual design was estimated to cost $35 million. New federal and state building regulations combined with the impact of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic project the construction costs to be $10 million more than anticipated last year.

The increased cost project to renovate now has some delegates, as well as their constituents, wondering whether it would make more sense to build a new nursing home, which the county projects could cost in total between $62 million to $67 million.

“Building a new facility may be easier, cheaper and less disruptive to the residents,” said Claremont Rep. John Cloutier.

District 7 Rep. Judy Aron said that her constituents spoke favorably to building a new facility. Residents told Aron that a new facility might provide more overall cost-benefit than the renovation. Additionally, with concerns about an economic downturn due to the pandemic, having to delay the project by starting anew might be better than bonding a project in the present.

However, the costs of construction in a year may be more uncertain, some people pointed out.

Claremont resident Joe Osgood, a Republican candidate for the county board of commissioners, said he was concerned about the instability of construction costs in the near future. Materials and builders have already been in short supply during the pandemic, but the massive destruction from forest fires in the western United States threaten to further increase the demand, Osgood noted.

An advantage favoring the renovation proposal is the construction prices are currently locked, County Manager Derek Ferland said.

Both project options carry distinct advantages and disadvantages, Facility & Operations Director Mary Borque explained. The renovation proposal would provide more certainty of the construction costs and having low interest rates. A new facility would allow the county to maximize the building’s efficiency and space and would not cause disruptions to the residential operations during the process. Additionally the county could repurpose the old facility, or at least its most recent addition, the McConnell wing, to fill other needs.

However, a new facility would not only mean losing the costs already invested into the renovation plan, there are many unknowns about the “volatility of the construction climate” in the future and the risk of rising inflation rates, Borque said.

Another potential debate, if the delegation votes to build anew, will be the location. Many people indicated that they would like to see a new nursing home built in a more accessible location than the Sullivan Complex in Unity.

“My biggest problem with the facility is that it’s hidden away,” said Rep. Brian Sullivan, District 1. “Building a facility on the same lot may not improve the lot that much. New construction makes sense, but perhaps in a different place.”

The delegates plan to schedule another meeting in two weeks to vote on the renovation proposal. A meeting date has not been determined yet though state law requires that the delegation holds the vote within 14 days of the public hearing.

The renovation proposal will need a two-thirds majority vote from the 15-member delegation to be approved. If the proposal fails, depending on the discussion the county could potentially turn its attention to a new facility.

The 156-bed facility comprises three building sections: the original Sanders building, 19Stearns, built in 1970; and the McConnell wing, built in 1997.

The Sanders and Stearns buildings in particular are not designed to meet modern regulations or residential expectations of today’s seniors or families, according to Bourque. Sanders, which the county closed, did not have bathrooms connected directly to the residents’ rooms. Additionally, staff served the residents meals in their rooms because there was no dining room. In most rooms, four residents per ward share a single bathroom and the showers are located down the hall. While Stearns has a dining room, there is an overall lack of common space for families to visit with residents.

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