Chamber, TAMC to co-host
Business After Hours event
PRESQUE ISLE — Over the past several months, renovation and construction work has begun in various areas inside TAMC’s A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital campus. The upgrades and improvements at the facility, and added new technology, are designed to better serve patients.
Contributed photo
PAINTERS Chuck, left, and Adam Wallace of Charles Wallace Painting of Hodgdon help put the finishing touches on the medical library and entrance area of TAMC’s new conference and meeting space. A Business After Hours/Community Open House for the facility is planned to kick off National Hospital Week Monday, May 12 from 4:30 p.m.-7 p.m.
As a kick-off to National Hospital Week (May 11-17), local business leaders, community members and medical center employees will mark the completion of the first major project in TAMC’s capital improvement plan when they officially open the second floor of the East Wing Annex building that houses a new medical library, meeting, and employee education space. The Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce and TAMC will co-host a Business After Hours Social and Open House to show the new facility to the community for the first time Monday, May 12 from 4:30-7 p.m.
The new 9,400 square foot area houses TAMC’s medical library, the only of its kind north of Bangor. It includes one large conference space able to accommodate up to 120 people. That space can also be separated into two rooms to accommodate smaller groups. Another six smaller meeting and employee training spaces are also part of the floor plan. All rooms have permanently mounted projectors, screens and conference phones.
“This new area will allow us to free up the space where our existing medical library and conference rooms are located on the back side of the hospital, just off of the Pinkham Entrance. Our goal is to move most patient care areas to the main floor of the hospital to better accommodate those visiting the hospital,” said James McKenney, TAMC vice president of support services. “Our intent is to relocate our orthopedics and sports medicine practice from its current space on the second floor of the Millennium Medical Office Building to what has been the conference area at TAMC for many years. The new orthopedics and sports medicine center will be much easier for patients to access and will better accommodate a growing practice.”
The new facility will provide for the consolidation of education and training areas for the medical center under one roof at A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital. Currently, facilities are located both at the hospital and at the City Drug building just up Academy Street.
In addition to efficiencies gained by consolidating space, cost savings and energy efficiency will be gained in a number of ways. All of the lighting is LED, which not only costs little to operate but has an 80,000 hour life, saving on maintenance costs. Many of the rooms have occupancy sensors to turn off the lights when not in use. The heating, ventilation and air condition (HVAC) system is fully programmable and includes carbon dioxide sensors that will either slow down or turn off the system during unoccupied conditions, again saving on utility costs.
“The health care environment today is one that requires us to constantly innovate to provide a better value to our customers. We do this through a significant amount of teamwork, bringing all segments of our organization together to improve our services and become more efficient,” said Joy Barresi Saucier, TAMC vice president, chief strategy and community benefit officer. “These process changes take extensive dialogue, planning and training; this new space is where it all gets worked out before it is implemented in our patient care areas. This space is crucial for our leaders and staff as they work to provide the best care possible to our community.”
That spirit of innovation and collaboration will be celebrated at the opening of the new facility. The partnership with the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce to host the Business After Hours/Open House with TAMC underscores the important connection between the medical center and The County community it serves.
“The Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce is proud to join TAMC in hosting this Business After Hours and celebrating the completion of their newly renovated library and meeting area. The availability of this space for public meetings and educational opportunities is just one example of TAMC’s commitment and contributions to the area,” said Theresa Fowler, executive director of the chamber. “Business After Hours is an opportunity for community members to learn more about area businesses in a casual, social setting. We are hoping that local businesses will continue this trend and partner with the chamber to sponsor a Business After Hours at their location to showcase the services they offer.”
The Business After Hours/Open House event will also mark the opening of an exhibit that will run through the end of May in the new space. “Pictures, Postcards & Plates: Souvenirs of Presque Isle’s Past” features souvenir plates and postcards of Presque Isle dating back to the mid-1800s. The exhibit, supported by a grant from Maine Humanities Council, will travel throughout Presque Isle during 2014 and will eventually be on permanent display at the Historical Society’s Maysville Museum upon completion. In addition to the postcards and souvenir plates from the Historical Society’s collections are four maps of historic Presque Isle (1870, 1877, 1887 and 1894).
Kim Smith, of the Presque Isle Historical Society and exhibit curator, will give a short presentation during the opening event explaining the exhibit and talking briefly about souvenirs. In addition, attendees will be offered the opportunity to make “historic stereograph” cards that they can keep as a souvenir.
The space planning, floor plan layout and construction management on the second floor of the East Wing Annex building was done in-house by Tim Doak, TAMC facility engineer, who consulted with a number of fellow employees including Eugene Curtis, director of support services, and Linda Menard, who coordinates the TAMC Library and conference and education space.
The design drawings were completed by Robert Kervin, architect of Houlton. Construction work was completed by local contractor A&L Construction of Presque Isle. Other local subcontractors assisting in the project included County Electric, Industrial Plumbing and Heating, and S.W. Collins, all of Caribou, Portland Glass of Presque Isle, Inlution of Easton, Dunn Flooring of Houlton and Charles Wallace Painting of Hodgdon.
Refreshments will be served at the Business After Hours/Open House event. For more information, contact the TAMC communication office at 768-4044.
