$25M gift to Maine Medical Center, its largest donation ever, will fund ongoing expansion

Courtesy / Maine Medical Center A rendering shows the base of the 265,000-square-foot Maine Medical Center expansion, now under construction on Congress Street in Portland. The building will be named the Malone Family Tower in honor of a $25 million gift from John and Leslie Malone.

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By William Hall

Maine Medical Center has received the largest gift in the hospital’s history, a $25 million contribution from a Colorado couple who are summer residents of Boothbay.

The donation by John and Leslie Malone, announced Tuesday evening, will help fund the Portland hospital’s ongoing $534 million expansion. A six-story, 265,000-square-foot building now under construction on Congress Street will be named the Malone Family Tower, according to a news release.

Courtesy / Maine Medical Center

John and Leslie Malone

John Malone is chairman of Liberty Media Corp., a holding company that reported revenues last year of $9.4 billion and has ownership in the SiriusXM satellite radio business, Formula One Group motorsports and the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Liberty is traded under various ticker symbols on the Nasdaq.

Malone, 80, built the media company Tele-Communications Inc. and served as CEO before selling it to AT&T for $50 billion in 1999. He is also reportedly the largest private landowner in the U.S., with 2.2 million acres, about half of which are in Maine.

Leslie Malone is an accomplished equestrian and horse breeder, and has received cardiac care at Maine Medical Center, the release said.

“We were very impressed by the level of care that Leslie received at Maine Medical Center,” said John Malone. “We believe strongly in supporting health care innovation, and ensuring that all who call Maine home have access to world-class care.”

MMC President Jeff Sanders said in the release, “We are very grateful to John and Leslie Malone for their generosity and belief in Maine Medical Center. The Malone Family Tower will be the most advanced health care facility in the state of Maine, and will stand as a beacon of excellent cardiovascular and surgical care for our region.”

Construction of the tower began last fall and is expected to be complete in 2023, creating 64 private patient rooms and 19 procedure rooms. The building is the final piece of MMC’s $534 million expansion and modernization project that launched in 2016.

So far, the project has added 64 new private patient rooms and a new heliport atop the hospital’s Coulombe Family Tower, 225 additional parking spaces for patients and visitors and a new employee parking garage.

Campaign progress

Two years ago, MMC received a $7.5 million gift from Paul and Giselaine Coulombe and their daughter, Michelle. The Coulombe Family Tower was named in their honor.

Tuesday’s announcement marked the public phase of a $150 million fundraising campaign by MMC, aimed at supporting the completion of the campus overhaul, educating health care professionals and improving patient care. With the Malones’ donation, the campaign has raised $135 million, according to the release.

The campaign is dubbed the Next 150, a nod to the hospital’s founding 150 years ago as Maine General Hospital.

“This amazing philanthropic commitment by John and Leslie is truly transformational,” said the campaign’s chair, MaineHealth Trustee Bill Burke. “Their remarkable generosity will help Maine Medical Center meet its goals for this campaign and achieve our vision for improving healthcare in the great state of Maine.”

The campaign announcement featured a video message from former President George W. Bush, recalling the care of his father, the late President George H.W. Bush.

“Toward the end of my dad’s life, the Maine Medical Center staff were unbelievably nurturing — not only to him, but to those of us who loved him dearly. When Mom got sick she went there and they treated her unbelievably well,” President George W. Bush said.

“Capital campaigns mean that a good health care system will remain a good health care system. Maine Medical Center is a source of excellence, and therefore Laura and I are proud contributors.”

Maine Medical Center has a licensed capacity of 637 beds and is the flagship hospital of the state’s largest health care system, MaineHealth.

Maine Medical Partners, the outpatient care arm of MMC, last week opened a $59 million,108,000-square-foot clinical building on MaineHealth's Scarborough campus.