$1M gift will help LifeFlight of Maine buy specialized medical equipment
Courtesy / LifeFlight of Maine
From left, Director of Clinical Operations Chuck Hogan, Director of Development Anna Dugal, CCRF Director Laurie Warren and COO Bill Cyr, flanking an isolette (or incubator) on a recent visit to LifeFlight of Maine’s Bangor base.
Just weeks after opening three training centers for its airborne first responders, LifeFlight of Maine can now further expand its capabilities through a $1 million gift that will buy specialized medical equipment.
The LifeFlight Foundation received the gift to establish its first named, endowed fund, from the Cornelia Cogswell Rossi Foundation.
The equipment will be used onboard LifeFlight of Maine’s airplane, helicopters and ground support vehicles, according to a news release.
The Cornelia Cogswell Rossi Foundation carries out the philanthropic vision of Dr. Joseph and Connie Rossi, a couple with a strong love of Maine and especially Mount Desert Island and the Acadia National Park region, the news release said.
In 2021, LifeFlight crews transported a record number of patients from that region, averaging one to two patient-flights a week from Bar Harbor throughout the year.
“The medical staff is prepared to provide critical care no matter when or where it is needed in our vast state,” said Laurie Warren, one of the foundation’s directors, said on a recent visit to LifeFlight’s Bangor base. “LifeFlight’s role is more important now than ever before.”
The grant significantly also increases LifeFlight’s endowment and provides financial sustainability for the nonprofit’s future.
“Enabling funds to be drawn annually, and in perpetuity, to meet one of the organization’s greatest needs is extremely powerful,” said LifeFlight Foundation’s executive director, Kate O’Halloran.
Each LifeFlight aircraft carries more than $500,000 of medical equipment used to provide intensive care in the air or on the ground, en route to a major medical center in Maine or beyond. The equipment ranges from isolettes (incubators) used to safely transport premature or newborn infants, to ventilators and cardiac balloon pumps that keep heart-failure patients alive.
“Our medical equipment must always remain as contemporary as our training and knowledge,” said LifeFlight of Maine’s medical director, Dr. Norm Dinerman.
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