Photo / Courtesy, MaineHealth
A “green roof” aims to reduce water runoff, minimize heat island effects and offer a calming space.
Updated: June 4, 2024
Capping six-year expansion, Maine Med’s $378M tower is almost ready for patients
File Photo / Courtesy MaineHealth
Maine Medical Center was named one of 75 top teaching hospitals nationwide. It also capped a six-year expansion and modernization project with the completion of the Malone Family Tower.
Capping off a multiyear expansion and modernization project, Maine Medical Center is getting set to open its new 300,000-square-foot Malone Family Tower on June 9.
The $378 million, eight-story addition increases the Portland hospital's capacity to care for patients and includes 96 private patient rooms, 10 operating rooms, nine procedure rooms and 40 pre- and post-procedure beds.
“The Malone Family Tower is a much-needed investment in our patients, our care team and our entire region,” said Britt Crewse, president for the southern region of MaineHealth, Maine Med's parent health care system.
The tower is intended to help meet a growing need for cardiac and cardiovascular care, with flexible spaces designed to promote collaboration and innovation among members of Maine Med's cardiovascular care team. The new structure adds 32 intensive care unit beds to the hospital, bringing MMC’s total ICU bed capacity to slightly more than 100.
“Today, we cannot serve all of the patients who require this type of care at Maine Medical Center,” said Dr. Joel Botler, chief medical officer for MaineHealth’s southern region. “This tower allows us to meet that need both today and for tomorrow.”
MMC performs the most cardiac and cardiovascular procedures in Maine, including more than 1,200 open heart surgeries, approximately 5,000 catheter-based procedures and about 600 ablations per year.
“With more procedures requiring large, interdisciplinary teams, advanced imaging and other technologies, our new operating and procedure spaces can accommodate the latest advances in cardiac therapeutics and treatments, while also providing a more comfortable environment for our patients,” Botler said.
Photo / Courtesy, MaineHealth
Atop the tower, a 20,000-square-foot sterile processing department will serve all of the operating and procedure rooms at Maine Medical Center.
Located on Congress Street, the building features a glass exterior designed to bring in natural light. Visitors to the tower can drive up and drop off patients before going to MMC’s nearby patient and visitor garage; valet parking will also be available at the tower’s Congress Street entrance, which will supplement the hospital’s main entrance on Bramhall Street.
Sustainability features include the use of recycled construction materials whenever possible, according to a news release. There's a “green roof” that's designed to reduce water runoff, minimize heat island effects and offer a calming space. The goal is for the tower to become Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver Certified.
Photo / Courtesy, MaineHealth
The tower includes 96 private patient rooms.
Atop the tower, a 20,000-square-foot sterile processing department will serve all of the operating and procedure rooms at Maine Medical Center.
Construction funding came from reserves, operating revenues, grants, bonds and donations from the community. The tower is named for John and Leslie Malone, who donated $25 million to MMC’s capital campaign in 2021, the largest single philanthropic gift in MMC’s history.
John Malone is chairman of Liberty Media Corp., a holding company that reported revenues last year of $9.4 billion and has ownership in other businesses and sports teams. He built the media company Tele-Communications Inc. and served as CEO before selling it to AT&T for $50 billion in 1999, and is also reportedly the largest private landowner in the U.S., with 2.2 million acres, about half of which is in Maine.
Photo / Courtesy, MaineHealth
The Leon A. Gorman Lobby features plenty of natural light.
More than 2,600 benefactors supported the campaign between 2017 and 2023, as MMC raised $179 million in designated funds to support facility expansion and modernization, workforce development, and innovation and clinical research.
Final piece
The tower is the final piece of of Maine Med’s overall $588.4 million expansion, which officially began in 2018 and added a total of 160 new private patient rooms. Additions have also included:
- An expansion of the hospital’s patient and visitor parking garage, completed in 2019.
- The addition of two additional floors containing a total of 64 private rooms to the Coulombe Family Tower. Completed in 2019, the addition was funded by a $7.5 million donation from Paul and Giselaine Coulombe and their daughter Michelle, who serves as president of the Coulombe Family Foundation.
- The addition of the Linda and Diana Bean Sisters Heliport atop MMC’s Coulombe Family Tower, completed in 2019, funded by a $3 million gift from sisters Linda and Diana Bean.
- Construction of a new employee parking garage on St. John Street, completed in 2020.
- A new 108,000-square-foot medical office building dedicated to specialty care on MMC’s Scarborough campus, completed in 2021.
Incorporated in 1868, MMC is the state’s largest hospital, licensed for 700 beds and employing more than 9,600 people. MMC is both a community hospital and a referral center, and includes an educational program and a biomedical research center. As a nonprofit institution, MMC provides nearly 23% of all the charity care delivered in Maine.
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