Another Maine hospital looks to upgrade: MDI Hospital proposes $30M renovation
Courtesy / SMRT, MDI Hospital
This concept plan shows an expanded emergency department in light blue, a new entrance off Main Street, a new surgical suite, and expanded parking and green space. The entrance is currently through the rear of the building.
Mount Desert Island Hospital is in the early stages of a planning what is expected to be a $30 million renovation of its aging facility in Bar Harbor.
The project was conceived long before the pandemic to address infrastructure and long-term capacity needs at the 25-bed critical access hospital, President and CEO Christina Maguire told Mainebiz.
“The pandemic has only accelerated the need to move forward with critical upgrades to our emergency department and a streamlined approach and traffic pattern for emergency vehicles,” she said in an email.
Top priorities are renovation and expansion of the emergency department, expansion of the surgical services area and the addition of a new entrance to the hospital campus from Main Street. Construction is expected to begin in five years.
The $30 million renovation would be paid for with mix of funding.
“The project is expected to be funded through a mix of public and private funding sources including bond funding, local financing, grants, foundation and individual giving,” Maguire said.
Larger emergency department
The current concept would enable the emergency department to more than double in size, providing more privacy for patients as well as the ability to house the behavioral health population in an appropriate care environment.
The renovation would also address existing grading and flooding issues and an expansion and restructuring of the hospital’s surgical services area.
At this stage in planning, the surgical services area is also expected to increase by 20%.
“Project goals in this area include providing patients with more privacy, creating a private waiting room for families, and building additional support space for both staff and surgical functions,” Maguire said.
In order to support needed infrastructure upgrades to the hospital campus, the project also includes the replacement and consolidation of existing mechanical, electric and plumbing systems in a new central utility plant.
The current concept also involves five small buildings that are nearby and are owned by the hospital.
Two ideas for the buildings are in the works: either remove them to provide space for a new front entrance to the hospital off Main Street, as well as a medical education residence hall and additional green space; or give them to Bar Harbor nonprofit Island Housing Trust, if suitable, to meet its program to develop affordable housing.
Approvals
The next step for the project will be to obtain a certificate of need from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, a regulatory approval that is required of certain health care facilities for capital projects above $13.1 million.
The project will also need to go before the Bar Harbor Planning Board for approval.
Maguire introduced the proposal to the Bar Harbor Town Council last week.
“We have good bones in that hospital,” Maguire said during the presentation. “It’s just a matter of making sure we’re doing the right thing.”
The hospital has served the Bar Harbor area since 1897.
“We want to build infrastructure that is creative and innovative and will serve us another 125 years,” Maguire said.
SMRT, an architecture and engineering firm with Maine offices in Portland and Bangor, is the lead consultant on the project.
The project is on track with a trend of numerous renovation and construction projects at other hospitals around Maine, many of which have older facilities and increasing patient volume and face new technologies and care protocols.
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Does every small town in Maine need to have a hospital? Something to think about... $30 million will add a lot to healthcare premiums as we consumers end up paying for these capital improvements
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