Courtesy / Cianchette family
Eric and Peggy Cianchette
Updated: June 24, 2022
Maine Medical Center receives $2M gift, raises fundraising goal to $170M
Courtesy / Maine Medical Center
The Malone Family Tower, depicted here in an artist's rendering, is expected to open in early 2024, according to Maine Medical Center.
Maine Medical Center has received a $2 million gift toward an ongoing capital campaign whose fundraising goal is now extended by $20 million to keep up with the demands of the pandemic.
The new goal is $170 million, the Portland hospital announced Thursday.
The $2 million gift, from Eric and Peggy Cianchette of Portland, helped Maine Med reach its original goal of raising $150 million toward a $543 million expansion and modernization project.
Despite rising construction costs throughout the state, the additional funding is not being sought for that reason, a spokesman told Mainebiz. Chicago-based Perkins & Will is the architect on the project, while Tuner Construction Co., of New York, is the contractor, he said.
In recognition of the $2 million gift, Maine Med announced plans for the Eric & Peggy Cianchette Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. featuring state-of-the-art equipment to serve the region’s sickest cardiac patients.
“We are excited to see the extraordinary facility that Maine Medical Center is building and know it will benefit countless cardiac patients once complete,” said the couple, whose daughter is a cardiac nurse, in a statement. “Our family and friends have received outstanding care from Maine Medical Center, and we are honored to be making an investment in the future of the medical center for all Maine people.”
Maine Med's capital campaign aims to fund the building of modern and adaptable facilities; educating future clinicians; and developing solutions to improve patient care. The hospital noted that workforce and facility needs have grown throughout the pandemic, as the number of patients and the seriousness of their illnesses have increased.
Maine Med, the flagship of the MaineHealth system, is licensed for 700 beds and is the largest hospital in the state. On most days, officials said, dozens of patients in the hospital's emergency department wait for a bed to become available.
To meet this need, the city of Portland has approved Maine Med's plan to build out the fifth floor of the Malone Family Tower ahead of the project’s original schedule.
The tower will now open with 96 private inpatient rooms instead of the original 64. MMC also is adding a new sterile processing department at the top of the Malone Family Tower in order to meet rising demand for procedures.
To support these services, MMC has extended The NEXT 150 | Campaign for Maine Medical Center to raise $20 million more, and has already secured $9 million toward that goal. Maine Medical Center also said it continues to seek $3 million in support of its $25 million goal to meet workforce development needs.
“This project has always been about planning to meet the future needs of our community,” said Jeff Sanders, president of Maine Medical Center. “The pandemic has accelerated our need for private rooms and a skilled workforce so we can continue to provide high-quality, safe, patient-centered care to our community.
"We are grateful to the Cianchette family and all of our benefactors — past, present and future — who are continuing to show their support for our care team, our mission and our vision of working together so our communities are the healthiest in Americ."
The Malone Family Tower is expected to open in early 2024.
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