Months after receiving a $10 million lead gift from television producer and philanthropist Dick Wolf, Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor has received a $4 million commitment from Ruth M. Colket to help fund a major facilities upgrade.
“I love this hospital, and I’m proud of everything it stands for,” she said. “When I saw an opportunity to help, I knew I had to take action.”
The money is going toward a $41.3 million project to expand and modernize the hospital’s downtown campus with a state-of-the-art emergency department, upgraded surgical suites, a dedicated ambulance bay and new patient entrances.
The project is being paid for with a combination of federal funds; philanthropic donations from individuals, foundations and businesses; internal board-designated funding; and lines of credit.Â
Colket was among the first to step forward as an honorary chair of the campaign, along with Bob and Arlene Kogod, David and Susan Rockefeller and Wolf.Â
The Kogods, of Washington, D.C., and Seal Harbor, provided $3 million to build the Kogod Family Center for Medical Education. Located near the hospital, the center was completed last year.
Nearing campaign goal
The campaign has raised more than $53 million toward its $55 million goal.
The hospital, a critical access hospital and safety-net health care provider, serves a year-round population of some 5,500, plus a seasonal spike of summer residents and Acadia National Park visitors.
Annually, the hospital logs more than 70,000 patient visits across the year-round and visitor constituencies.
Regular donors
Colket and her husband, Tristram, have made previous gifts to the hospital. That included the hospital’s first $1 million donation, in 2004, to establish the Colket Inpatient Care Center, which built inpatient units, an intensive care unit and expanded nursing education.
In 2010, the couple’s $3 million gift enabled the hospital to buy a nearby medical building and surrounding properties, which increased access to primary and specialty outpatient care. In 2016, they funded two triage rooms in the emergency department.
The family has donated to other local organizations, including fire and EMS services, the American Red Cross, Mount Desert Nursing Association, Maine Seacoast Mission, the Bar Harbor YMCA, Island Housing Trust, Friends of Acadia and Jesup Memorial Library.
