Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - Since 1897, Mount Desert Island Hospital (MDIH) has been dedicated to improving health and quality of life in Maine’s Downeast District. Annually, MDIH delivers care to 25,000+ people. Ranked among the nation’s top critical access hospitals, MDIH is a safety-net medical provider for a significant portion of Hancock and Washington counties. We are available 24/7 to all who seek healthcare. Our team of 520+ dedicated employees proudly serve as our community’s medical home. Year-round, MDIH’s service area has a population of 88,138 residing across two isolated, coastal counties. Our hospital campus is located on Mount Desert Island, an essential gateway community to Acadia National Park. This popular tourist destination logs 4,000,000 visits annually, resulting in a 300% increase in demand on MDIH’s Emergency Department during the summer and fall months. As an independent, rural healthcare organization, MDIH maintains a delicate balance between top-performing medical care and constrained, insufficient space. To best serve residents and visitors alike, MDIH needs to expand and renovate its ED for the first time in 20 years, adapting the department for modern technologies and caregiving standards, and assuring 24/7 accessibility to address a diverse spectrum of medical needs for all who live, work, and play here. MDIH’s planned expansion and renovation will triple the ED’s footprint, provide vastly improved privacy for patients, increase space for patients experiencing mental health crises, and optimize layout and airflow. A new exterior ED entrance and covered ambulance bay will greatly streamline access to critical emergency services. The interior space will have designated and urgently needed behavioral health care rooms; multiple triage areas for rapid and immediate patient assessment; appropriate facilities and improved airflow to address infectious diseases; and an increased number of patient care rooms which will be larger, more private, and suitable for critical care patients as needed.
