August 2007

Maine Coast Memorial Hospital has been advised by hospital trustee Mrs. Edith Dixon that her late husband and philanthropist F. Eugene Dixon, Jr. has named Maine Coast Memorial Hospital as a $5 million beneficiary of his estate.

Mr. Dixon, who was born on Grindstone in Winter Harbor, Maine in 1923, died last year on August 2. Mr. Dixon spent each summer in Winter Harbor and was a generous benefactor to many local causes. He was the lifelong major supporter of the Ellsworth based healthcare system. He joined with his mother Eleanor Widener Dixon early on to support Dr. Edward O’Meara’s vision of a major community hospital located at the crossroads of Hancock County.

Mr. Dixon bequested the funds unrestricted, which was not always his practice as he most often marked the funds for specific projects. But in harmony with his stated wishes before his death, $1 million of the bequest will be earmarked towards the building of a new Emergency Medicine Center at the hospital’s Ellsworth campus slated to begin in 2008.

The balance of the gift - $4 million – has been directed by Hospital Board of Trustees to the Maine Coast Healthcare Foundation. The plan is that the Foundation, which in turn benefits the hospital through fundraising and investment of funds, will manage the Dixon bequest to provide Maine Coast Memorial Hospital a predictable flow of funds each year.

Mr. Dixon enjoyed a deep personal relationship with Maine Coast Memorial Hospital having served over 47 years as a hospital trustee. He took the responsibility of being a trustee very seriously – exemplified by his terms as Board Chair during the 1970s. As Chair he never missed a meeting, driving each month from his winter home in Philadelphia to be present for important hospital business. He truly cared for the hospital and its ability to serve the people of Hancock and western Washington Counties.

In recognizing the importance of this action, Foundation Chairman and a Dixon family friend, Alan Goldstein said, “This wonderful foresight by Fitz will set the example for others to pledge bequests to our hospital – thus ensuring a bright future for healthcare in a growing Downeast.”