“Overwhelming community support has completed Mount Desert Island Hospital’s Women’s Health Center Capital Campaign months ahead of schedule,” said Linda Robinson, co-chair of Women’s Health Center Campaign Committee. The early success will enable construction to begin as early as January, 2013. The facility will be named the Lisa Stewart Women’s Health Center in memory of Lisa Stewart, a longtime seasonal resident who passed away in 2010 at the age of 52.
The Stewart family, an integral part of the Northeast Harbor community for many years, pledged their support to the project as a way of honoring Ms. Stewart’s memory by recognizing her affinity for Mount Desert Island and the time she enjoyed here.
“We are honored that the Stewart family has chosen to include MDI Hospital to be a part of the recognition of Lisa’s memory in this place that was near and dear to her and will strengthen women’s health throughout this community,” said Arthur J. Blank, MDI Hospital’s president/CEO.
The new facility is also being made possible by significant support by Noelle and Dick Wolf of Seal Harbor. Noelle Wolf is a member of the Hospital Board of Trustees who has been instrumental in this project from the start. “Dick and I are pleased to support this project that will serve this community and recognize the influence and contributions of Dick’s mother,” Noelle Wolf said.
“Since 1897, our community has stood behind this hospital to ensure the highest quality health care is available to everyone who lives and visits our beautiful island,” said Arthur J. Blank, MDI Hospital’s president/CEO. “Thanks to our very generous benefactors, we are able to meet our facilities challenges to provide exceptional care for today’s and tomorrow’s women in our community.”
In total, MDI Hospital has received commitments in excess of $1.7 million to build the new Women’s Health Center on the site of the former Cadillac Medical Building on Main Street in Bar Harbor. MDI Hospital acquired the property in 2011 as the result of generous donation by Ruth and Tristram Colket of Bar Harbor.
Architectural details are currently being finalized and construction bids are being solicited with a target construction start date of Jan. 13, 2013. The facility is expected to be complete by late fall 2013. The center will feature additional exam rooms to accommodate more outpatient services and greatly improve patient privacy and efficiency.
The facility’s current location on Wayman Lane opened in 1993 in a renovated private home. Over the course of 20 years, the Women’s Health Center patient population has grown beyond what can effectively be served in the cramped quarters. Despite the lack of space, the center’s patients have cherished the welcoming and relaxed spirit that resulted from the unique setting.
The Lisa Stewart Women’s Health Center will maintain the comfort and hominess of the center’s former location while also accommodating the latest standards in medical technology and patient expectations.
The building’s second floor will house a large multi-purpose room that will be shared with the community for events, meetings, and programs.
MDI Hospital and affiliated Health Centers serve residents and visitors in the MDI region with a comprehensive range of health care services with a uniquely warm and neighborly approach. A 24-hour emergency room offers always-open access to care. In addition, MDI Hospital offers state-of-the-art imaging services, orthopedics, behavioral health, in-house lab services and primary care for the entire family through its network of eight health centers in Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Southwest Harbor and Trenton. For more information and for the latest on the progress of the Lisa Stewart Women’s Health Center, follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WomensHealthCenter.