ELLSWORTH — Several dignitaries, local
officials and leaders of Maine Coast Memorial
Hospital broke ground Tuesday on the site of the
new emergency department.
The Dixon Emergency Center entails a
24,100-square-foot addition to the Union Street
campus. The two-story addition will be built to
the northwest of the medical office building.
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Hospital officials and
supporters dig in at the
groundbreaking for the new F.
Eugene Dixon Jr. Emergency
Center at Maine Coast Memorial
Hospital in Ellsworth Tuesday.
From left are Ellsworth Mayor
John Phillips, Maine Coast
Healthcare Foundation Chairman
Alan Goldstein, Edith Dixon,
Honorary Capital Campaign
Chairman Frederick Hutchinson,
Hospital Board of Trustees
Chairman Karen Stanley, Campaign
Chairman Robert Merrill, Chief
of Emergency Medicine Dr. Ken
Christian and MCMH President
Doug Jones.—STAFF PHOTO BY CYNDI
WOOD |
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“We are going to get an emergency department
with twice as many rooms that are clean, quiet
and private,” said Dr. Ken Christian, who heads
the department.
The project is expected to cost $10 million. The
hospital has begun a capital campaign, “When
Life’s in the Balance,” to raise $5 million,
according to a campaign letter written by Bob
Merrill, campaign chairman and vice-chairman of
the hospital Board of Trustees.
The hospital is obtaining a state loan to meet
the remaining expenses.
The addition is being named for the late
benefactor F. Eugene Dixon Jr., who had pledged
$1 million toward the project.
His wife, Edith Dixon, attended the
groundbreaking.
Dixon noted that this might not seem like the
best time for a capital campaign but said, “I
think if people dig in a little bit, we’ll be
able to get this done.”
“Bangor’s a long way to go if you have a real
emergency,” said Dixon.
City Council Chairman and Mayor John Phillips
said it is comforting to have a small hospital
in area where patients receive care without
becoming “faceless individuals.”
Doug Jones, the hospital’s president and chief
executive officer, said having the new emergency
room is like a “ray of hope.”
Over 100 people attended the event, including
hospital employees and friends.
When finished, the Dixon Emergency Center will
have 15 exam rooms, including two trauma rooms,
family rooms, an X-ray room as well as special
rooms for examining sexual assault victims.
The hospital employs 755 people in full- and
part-time positions between the hospital itself
and its outlying clinics.
Reporter Cyndi Wood contributed to this
report. |
