Contact: Caroline Cornish
caroline.cornish@mainehealth.org
PORTLAND, Maine – Maine Medical Center (MMC) announced today the conclusion of a multi-year fundraising campaign that invests in significant improvements to patient care and its workforce. The NEXT 150 | Campaign for Maine Medical Center raised $179 million in designated funds to support MMC’s mission through facility expansion and modernization, workforce development, and innovation and clinical research. In June, MMC extended the campaign beyond its original goal of $150 million to further support its building and workforce development goals.
“This campaign was conceived in the fall of 2016 to address some of our most pressing challenges, including delayed access to care, workforce constraints and the need to accelerate innovation,” said MaineHealth Southern Region President Jeff Sanders. “While we could not have anticipated the pandemic and its compounding effect on these challenges – let alone new ones like financial losses and cost pressures – the designated funds raised from the capital campaign and the generous donors behind them will help us address these pressing issues.”
MMC, a non-profit hospital that accepts all patients regardless of ability to pay, created The NEXT 150 Campaign with the MaineHealth vision of working together so our communities are the healthiest in America in mind. The campaign contributes $115 million toward MMC’s infrastructure needs, including the current construction of the 265,000 square foot Malone Family Tower on Congress Street in Portland. The tower, scheduled to open in 2024, will include 96 private rooms and 19 procedural suites with a focus on cardiac care.
“We are looking forward to operating in a modern facility that can accommodate the latest equipment and technology for cardiovascular care,” said Marco Diaz, MD, Chair of MMC’s Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and MaineHealth’s Cardiac Service Line. “Soon, our team will be operating in a facility that will truly benefit our sickest patients, and we have our donors to thank for making it possible.”
The campaign also helped MMC fund an 85,000 square foot addition to MMC’s Coulombe Family Tower that included 64 new, private patient rooms and the construction of the Sisters Heliport, and it allowed for the construction of a 108,000 square foot medical office building on MMC’s Scarborough Campus.
In addition, The NEXT 150 dedicates $24 million toward education. Partial scholarships for students in the Tufts University School of Medicine – Maine Medical Center Maine Track Program are now fully endowed, thanks to the campaign, and MMC has increased its nursing scholarship awards. Donations are also helping to expand and spur advancements in MMC’s residency and fellowship training programs. Funds are designated to the Center for Workforce Development, too. The Center helps train workers to serve in essential front line health care jobs, and has a particular focus on engaging and eliminating barriers for New Mainers interested in a health care career.
Finally, MaineHealth Innovation, clinical programs and research projects throughout MMC are receiving $40 million from the campaign. So far, MaineHealth Innovation has funded 17 projects, and secured 14 patents as it supports care team members who are developing novel solutions to unmet care needs through funding, education and community connections. Donors also have supported clinical innovation funds for oncology, cardiology, emergency medicine, pediatrics, neurosurgery and orthopedics, among others. Research on cancer, mental health and vector-borne diseases received funding as well.
The campaign’s success comes as MMC, and other health care providers throughout the state and country, continue to face significant financial headwinds as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. High inflation and a shortage of skilled health care workers are increasing the cost of providing patient care. Patients also are often staying in Maine hospitals longer because they are sicker on average than they have been in the past. A shortage of long term care beds in the community is further limiting access to hospital-level care.
“MMC – like most hospitals around the country – has significant challenges ahead,” Sanders said. “At the same time, our community of supporters is helping us make these investments in our mission of caring for our community, educating tomorrow’s caregivers and researching new ways to provide care, and for that we are truly grateful.”
The campaign benefitted from significant donations from a number of generous benefactors with connections to Maine, including John and Leslie Malone, Paul and Giselaine Coulombe and Michelle Coulombe-Hagerty, the Glickman Lauder Family, the Konkel Family, Lisa Gorman, Jennifer and Bennett Wilson, Jeff and Sonya Gorman, the Libra Foundation, Linda and Diana Bean, the Hannaford Charitable Foundation, Spectrum Healthcare Partners, Eric and Peggy Cianchette, Shaw Brothers Construction and the Shaw Family, and L.L.Bean. MMC also received support from Maine’s congressional delegation through the federal appropriations process.
To learn more about the impact of The NEXT 150 | Campaign for Maine Medical Center visit next150.mmc.org.
Note to reporters and editors: High quality video of construction underway on the Malone Family Tower is available here.
###
About Maine Medical Center
Maine Medical Center (MMC), recognized as a Best Regional Hospital by U.S. News and World Report for 2022-2023, is a complete health care resource for the people of Greater Portland and the entire state, as well as northern New England. Incorporated in 1868, MMC is the state’s largest medical center, licensed for 700 beds and employing more than 9,600 people. MMC's unique role as both a community hospital and a referral center requires an unparalleled depth and breadth of services, including an active educational program and a world-class biomedical research center. As a nonprofit institution, Maine Medical Center provides nearly 23 percent of all the charity care delivered in Maine. MMC is part of the MaineHealth system, a growing family of health care services in northern New England. For more information, visit www.mmc.org.