This week marked a beginning and an end as the last residents of Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center made the move to the new Navigator Homes facility on Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.
Thirty-three seniors moved in on Wednesday to the new nursing home facility that has been in the works for seven years. Navigator Homes is a hybrid model, providing housing for seniors and hospital staff, along with skilled nursing and rehabilitation care.
Claire Seguin, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital president and chief operating officer, was on site helping to smooth the way. She said that Windemere is now officially closed, and that the hospital will soon expand its services into that building.
“I’m feeling incredibly thankful for the Windemere employees…” Ms. Seguin said. “What a huge milestone and victory for the Island and for the aging population to have such a beautiful facility to come to.”
She was accompanied by Denise Schepici, recently retired hospital president, as they visited residents in Building 2, where staff prepared sandwiches, pizza, cupcakes and charcuterie in a homestyle kitchen beside a long, communal-style dining table.
“The kitchen is designed so that if a resident, a family member, wants to actually cook for their family member, they can cook in the kitchen,” Ms. Schepici said. “There’s no restriction on meal times.”
The nursing home cost $68 million and has the capacity to house 66 patients in private suites. At the front and back of the complex are 48 housing units for Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and Navigator Homes staff.
In June, Gov. Maura Healey toured the facility, praising it as an important model for workforce housing and elder care.
“This project represents everything we need to be doing in the state,” Governor Healey said at the time.
State Sen. Julian Cyr and state Rep. Thomas Moakley, accompanied the governor on the tour in June.
“[The project] just goes to show that the Commonwealth cares about older adults being able to age in their own communities,” Mr. Moakley noted.
“No challenge is greater, steeper and more urgent for Islanders and Cape Codders than housing,” Mr. Cyr added.
Navigator Homes serves as one of Ms. Schepici’s legacies. The former hospital president retired in December and on move in day she was celebrating with board members and staff.
“It really feels like a home,” Ms. Schepici said.
Navigator Homes board member Melinda Loberg said that when the first of the Navigator Homes residents arrived many paused to take in their surroundings.
“Their faces were uncertain and then all of a sudden their eyes lit-up and they had a smile,” Ms. Loberg said.
Polly Brown, board treasurer of Navigator Homes, said it was exciting to see the final preparations come together, including the beds made and the tables set.
“A man in a wheelchair came and went by the kitchen, and he looked out the windows and said ‘I haven’t been able to look out a window for years,’” Ms. Brown said. “Our windows are low enough so that he can do it in a wheelchair.”
Ms. Brown said even the medicine cabinets have the residents’ well-being in mind. A cabinet is embedded inside a wall at each private suite so nurses don’t have to roam the hallways with carts, promoting a home-like feel of the facility.
Ms. Loberg said many residents are excited about the spa room, which has salon equipment and a walk-in bathtub, which will help those at risk of falling when trying to step over a traditional tub’s edge.
Katherine Sheridan was one of the residents moving in on Wednesday. Ms. Sheridan moved to the Island from Maine to be closer to her daughter and newborn grandchild. For a time she lived at Island Elderly Housing but had to move to Windemere because she kept falling.
At Windemere, Ms. Sheridan said she didn’t have a bedroom or bathroom to herself, and it was difficult to spend time outside.
“This is a big deal,” she said of her new room. “It’s just light and airy and so positive.”
This article appears in February 13, 2026.
Is this facility paying real estate property taxes?
Thank you for all that your compassion and competence has accomplished.
Hooray for Navigator, but please ditch the monstrosity of the sign out front. That should have not been approved for that residential area (despite yes yes they have the senior living zoning) but come on sign committee, this is an eyesore that needs revision.
68 million dollars for a facility that serves 66 people is laughable! 1.03 million per person, wow!
Over the life of the building this is not an extravagant project in terms of cost and community benefits. Otherwise our Seniors would more than likely have to leave MV.
But this article doesn’t even tell the whole story. You mention how this fills a need on island, accolades abound. But no mention the huge price increase for private pay? The only people who will be able to afford this are well off. They’ll take medicaid, but much fewer amounts. A follow up would be nice.
Kudos to ALL who have been involved who shared the compassion, vision, courage, and determination to see this project become a reality!
Wonderful to see this vision come to fruition! The island needed this facility to care for the aging population who need assistance. Well done MV Hospital, Denise Schepici, and everyone involved from Navigator Homes, the town of Edgartown leaders, and the community support. Our family applauds all of you!
The reality is that Navigator Homes, would not exist today without the vision, groundwork and persistence of Paddy Moore. Paddy took the vision of The Green House Model (https://aginginnovation.org/) to the MVHospital and Healthy Aging MV, and provided a means for the hospital to close Windemere. The absence of any acknowledgement of Paddy in the transition reported here is confounding at best.
And, exactly how big was that GRANT from the USDA?
A rather unlikely source of funding for commercial business entity such as Navigator.
Navigator is non profit.
Glenn, the USDA has a program to provide assistance to rural communities in building critical services for their community. Our sewer systems on the island have benefited from this program. Navigator Homes was fortunate to receive this LOAN, not a grant, that must be paid back. Navigator Homes and its Management team, Alliance, are both non-profit organizations.