Tour of Carroll County nursing home built for $21M turns heads, could turn votes

Mountain View Community nursing home in Ossopee (Courtesy photo)

OSSIPEE - After a bipartisan group of Strafford County legislators toured a Carroll County nursing home that was built for $21 million dollars in 2011, some state reps are convinced a new Riverside Rest Home in Dover should be able to be built for less that $100 million instead of the $170 million County Commissioners want to spend.
Members of the Strafford Delegation including Rochester state rep Cliff Newton took the tour on Friday.
"I was very impressed with the way it looked. It looked more like a condominium than a nursing home," Newton told The Rochester Voice on Saturday.
The proposed cost for the nursing home currently being pushed by Strafford County Commissioners is $170 million, but when bonding is included with today's high interest rates, the total cost will be around $300 million, say members of the delegation who are opposed to the commissioners' plan.
Newton said the Mountain View Community nursing home is well-equipped with spacious bathrooms and high ceilings.
"The high ceilings are equipped with railing for lifts," said Newton, who added that all the rooms have baseboard heat as well as mini splits (heat pumps) if residents want added heat or air conditioning.
While Mountain View has a 103-bed capacity and Riverside Rest Home is slated for a 215-beds, Newton is convinced Strafford County can do better for taxpayers than what they are currently asking for.
"After touring Mountain View I believe Strafford County needs an update," he said. "If we build one like Carroll County did, we can do it for a lot less than $100 million.
Strafford 4 Rep Len Turcotte was among the bipartisan group that toured Mountain View and agreed with Newton.
"I've been visiting a lot of local privately run nursing homes and the Carroll County nursing home we visited looks like a privately run upscale model," he said today. "It's one of the top-tier facilities I've seen."
Turcotte said he'd run the figures for inflation, and in today's numbers Mountain View could be built for under $30 million. Given that, he said he feels confident that a new Riverside Rest Home can be had for under $60 million, not the $170 million sought by Strafford Commissioner including board Chair George Maglaras.