On June 5th at the Sullivan County Complex in Unity, Sullivan County residents, employees, and elected officials gathered in front of the construction site of the new Sullivan County Nursing Home. They all agreed with Commissioner Ben Nelson (R- Newport) that it was “nice to see it finally happen.”
Discussions of renovations of the Nursing Home started several years ago, but every delegation placed a different priority on the importance of renovations at the deteriorating 1930s nursing home. As Representative Skip Rollins (R-Newport) put it, “we worked our butts off for four years to get this to happen; sometimes we came close to getting it done and then lost it. It really was a bipartisan effort.”
The facility building had many issues, including falling plaster from the ceilings, gray water leaks and a burst water pipe, in addition to low ceilings and narrow hallways that did not meet the standards of modern nursing homes. Despite this, the staff and nurses are known for their excellent care.
The need for a new facility became more evident during the pandemic when the out-of-date facility made it difficult to meet the safety mandates. For Plainfield resident Vanessa Perron, putting a shovel in the pile of dirt was personal. Perron’s mother, Lorraine Griggs Varnese, was a resident during the pandemic, and the restrictions of the mandates led her mother’s health to quickly deteriorate.
Last August, Perron testified in front of the delegation about how desperately the County needed a new facility because her mother went months without showers and weeks without sunlight due to the lack of windows during the lockdown. Perron stressed that her efforts to put the priority of the renovations at the top of the delegation’s to-do list was never about the staff, but about the limitations of the building.
Representative Brian Sullivan (D- Grantham), who was chair of the Nursing Home Working Group in 2022, was pleased and proud of the working group’s efforts to get project approval. He stated, “the project required a strong delegation vote, and we got it. While the cost of the renovations is high, the cost of not having a nursing home is higher, making the project worth it.” The total cost of the renovations is $75 million. A third of the funds used for the project come from Governor Sununu’s Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery (GOFERR) fund.
“I am happy to see the groundbreaking of the Sullivan County Nursing expansion project come to a reality. A big chunk of this funding of $25 million was advocated for and approved at the New Hampshire Governor and Council level. It was understood earlier on the tremendous needs for Sullivan County and its senior citizens. State government listened and responded,” said District 1 Executive Councilor Joe Kenney, whose district covered half of Sullivan County at the time of the approval.
Councilor Cinde Warmington, whose district now covers almost all of Sullivan County after redistricting, was asked for a comment on the groundbreaking but was unable to be reached by the publishing deadline.
The framing of the new building will be finished before winter. Perron said that with the new building, no life will be lost due to the institution’s facility’s inability to take care of its residents.
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