Maine Med raises $179 million for expansion, renovations and other projects

Maine Medical Center’s new oncology floors take up the entire top two floors of the new Coulombe Family Tower. The two floors are part of the hospital’s expansion and modernization project. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Maine Medical Center has completed a fundraising campaign that helped pay for its ongoing expansion and renovations, as well as other initiatives.

The Portland hospital raised $179 million in its campaign, which started in 2016. Of the total raised, $115 million paid for capital improvements that include the Coulombe Family Tower, which has 64 new, single-occupancy patient rooms; the Sisters Heliport; construction of a medical office building at Maine Medical Center’s Scarborough campus and the Malone Family Tower, which is slated to open in 2024 and will include 96 private patient rooms and 19 surgical suites focusing on cardiac care.

Also, the fundraising campaign paid for $64 million in research, clinical programs and training, which includes a partnership with Tufts University and an innovation program that helps pay for employees to invent ways to improve patient care. The program, called MaineHealth Innovation, has funded 17 projects and resulted in 14 patents. MaineHealth is the statewide network that operates Maine Medical Center, the state’s largest hospital.

“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.”