Opening of Coulombe Family Tower 6 & 7

After years of planning and construction led by Sheila Parker, MSN, RN, VP PCS; Mike Bauman, MD, Chief of Emergency Services; and Deborah Linscott, MSN, RN, Nursing Director of Oncology Nursing; Maine Medical Center (MMC) celebrated the opening of two new floors dedicated to oncology patients on December 3, 2019.  Parker and Bauman also led the opening of a new, state-of-the-art dual helipad.

The two new oncology units, The Susan Donnell Konkel Pavilion for Surgical Oncology and the Marshall L. and Susan Gibson Pavilion for Medical Oncology, include 64 single, universal rooms where patients will receive state-of-the-art cancer care in a private setting. These new inpatient beds demonstrate a significant achievement in MMC’s expansion and modernization project and continual improvements in patient care throughout the medical center.

The Coulombe Family Tower addition was built to meet the growing acute care needs of MMC patients. The pavilions features modern air flow systems, family lounges and floor-to-ceiling windows. With one floor dedicated to medical oncology and another to surgical oncology, patients with similar health care needs can be grouped closer together and receive focused care. The new oncology beds also are adaptable to the needs of patients, whether they have come to the hospital for specialized surgery or to receive care and treatment as part of a clinical trial.

Deb Linscott, RN participating in the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Coulombe Family Tower.

The opening of these beds is “a great step forward in the quality of care and the care experience our patients receive,” said MMC President Jeffrey Sanders. “These new private rooms will significantly improve the healing environment for our oncology patients and will begin to address some of the capacity challenges Maine Medical Center has been increasingly experiencing over the past several years.”

The Coulombe Family Tower addition is part of MMC’s $534 million expansion and modernization project that will eventually add 128 private rooms and 19 procedure rooms for surgeries and other complex treatments, re-orient the front of MMC to Congress Street and greatly improve parking access for patients and staff. The new rooms will also help alleviate stress on the hospital’s emergency department, where many patients wait for a room elsewhere in the hospital because there are no available beds.

The Linda and Diana Bean Sisters Heliport also opened in December 2019.  The heliport allows for two helicopters to land atop the Coulombe Tower simultaneously and provides direct access to MMC’s emergency department via a dedicated elevator.

“Maine Medical Center serves the sickest patients in our region and is recognized as playing a critical role in the region’s continuum of care,” said Joel Botler, M.D., MMC’s Chief Medical Officer. “Our modernized facilities will allow us to continue to meet the growing acute care needs of our patients and allow our dedicated care teams to operate at their very highest capabilities.”