PORTSMOUTH — Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice (VNH&H), a nonprofit home health agency with over 70 years serving Aquidneck Island, has placed its 21,858-square-foot Portsmouth headquarters on the market.

“The contemporary model for home health requires a much smaller footprint than it did 28 years ago when we bought this building,” said Jennifer Fairbank, chief executive officer. “For example, a lot of our space was once used for medical supply storage and housing thousands of paper medical records. Today, most supplies are shipped directly to patients and all of our records are electronic. We simply don’t need to be heating and maintaining a building of this size.”

As part of the agency’s comprehensive strategic plan, the VNH&H Board of Directors voted to sell its building and seek more appropriately sized office space on Aquidneck Island. “To continue our legacy of serving all who need us, we are focusing on strategic growth within a challenging healthcare environment,” said Mark Hough, who chairs the board.

The agency will seek new leased space on Aquidneck Island after the sale is complete as well as keeping its small branch office in North Kingstown and a supply station in Swansea, Mass.

The agency provides home healthcare and hospice services as well as offering community health and wellness services such as flu clinics and maternal child health visits. 

VNH&H began on Newport’s Clarke Street in 1950 when a public health crisis of tuberculosis and polio was raging. That year, local citizens banded together to form The Newport Public Health Nursing Association that would send nurses into patient’s homes. What started as six nurses has grown into an agency that employs in excess of 200 people and serves patients in most of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.

Fairbank noted that the Aquidneck Island community has always supported VNH&H’s mission. “We are so grateful to serve this island. For the past 73 years, you have welcomed us into your homes at some of the most difficult times imaginable. We want to assure everyone that our mission and vision have not changed, and patient care will not be impacted during this exciting transition. We are confident that our community will continue to support our mission for years to come,” she said.

The 1184 East Main Road building is situated on one and a half acres within a larger industrial park. It was originally built for an electronics company and the property includes two parking lots and a large lawn with East Main Road frontage. 

“It is very rare for a light industrial zoned property of this size to come open on Aquidneck Island, especially in Portsmouth,” said listing agent, Steve Kirby of Kirby Properties, adding that with a building like this, there are many possibilities for customization.

Interested parties are encouraged to contact Kirby at steve@kirbyprop.com or 401/862-6761, or Sharyn Harrington at sharyn@kirbyprop.com or 401/862-6826. The listing is available at kirbyprop.com.