Courtesy / MaineHealth
The three-bay pediatric infusion suite will create the capacity for 500 additional infusions per year.
December 3, 2021
Construction of $1.5M Maine Med pediatric facility due to begin next month
Courtesy / MaineHealth
Construction of the infusion center, shown here in a rendering, is expected to be complete next spring.
By Staff
New investment in hospitals around Maine is driving numerous construction and expansion projects, including Northern Light Health’s redevelopment of hospitals in Blue Hill, Greenville, Bangor, Ellsworth and Portland; Central Maine Healthcare’s construction of a new cancer care center in Lewiston; and Maine Medical Center’s multiyear expansion and modernization project in Portland.
Now Maine Med has another construction project in the works.
Construction of a new outpatient pediatric infusion center is scheduled to begin in January at Maine Medical Center’s Maine Children’s Cancer Program, on the Scarborough campus of parent system MaineHealth.
The Sam L. Cohen Foundation in Portland is donating $2.25 million to build the center, establish a medical director chair for the children’s cancer program and enhance the program’s psycho-social support services, according to a news release. Funding from the medical director chair will support direct care, pilot programs, research, education and innovation.
The gift is the largest in the foundation’s history and was made to Maine Medical Center, Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital and the Maine Children’s Cancer Program.
In recognition of the gift, Maine Medical Center will name the new center the Sam L. Cohen Pediatric Infusion Center.
“Sam Cohen had a special place in his heart for the Maine Children’s Cancer Program,” Jeffrey Nathanson, the foundation’s president, said in the release. “Sam loved to visit MCCP and was moved by the exceptional care and hope the staff offered to children and families.”
Construction of the center is expected to be complete by the spring. The three-bay pediatric infusion suite will create the capacity for 500 additional infusions per year. The outpatient center will give patients access to a variety of specialists, and will have a solarium that creates space for healing as well as special programs.
Currently, the children’s cancer program uses its six treatment rooms for patients with cancer and blood disorders. There is not enough capacity to serve all patients. As a result, many of the young patients must receive infusions at the inpatient unit of Barbara Bush Children's Hospital in Portland.
In addition to cancer, pediatric patients who require IV therapy can include those with genetic conditions and rheumatologic, gastrointestinal and endocrine disorders.
The new center will also allow the Bush hospital to have more capacity to serve children who require hospitalization on its pediatric-friendly floor, said Dr. Mary Ottolini, chair of pediatrics at Maine Medical Center. “This addition will benefit all of our pediatric patients fighting serious illness.”
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