CARIBOU, Maine – On September 5, 1924, Cary Memorial Hospital in Caribou admitted its first patient.
Exactly 100 years later, current and former physicians, administrators, staff and special guests gathered to commemorate that day and celebrate the hospital, now known as Cary Medical Center, during a dinner and presentations at the Caribou Inn & Convention Center.
As the day approached, family practice physician Carl Flynn said he reflected on how the practice of medicine has changed since the days of Jefferson Cary, one of Caribou’s first doctors and the hospital’s namesake.
Cary, a Houlton native, arrived in 1877 and was one of only two doctors in town. This was before Caribou had any hospital, and people relied on doctors coming to them.
“Dr. Cary had his own chauffeur who would bring him to house calls in his horse and buggy,” Flynn said.
When Cary died in 1912, he bequeathed a large part of his estate to the city of Caribou to build a hospital, which opened as Cary Memorial on Lyndon Street in 1924, and expanded from 50 to 66 beds in 1955.
Caribou residents voted in 1973 to build a new hospital after Cary Memorial ran out of space to expand, and Cary Medical Center opened in August 1978 at its current location on Van Buren Road.
Flynn recognized numerous doctors who came and went throughout Caribou’s history, including Edgar Sincock, who opened a practice in 1891 and was one of two graduates in Caribou High School’s first senior class in 1887; Frederick Gregory, who helped found Cary Memorial; Margaret Simpson, the first woman physician to join the hospital in 1945; Mead Hayward, the first pediatrician; Clement Donahue, the first ophthalmologist; and Doug Collins, an orthopedic surgeon who retired in 1987.
The evening’s keynote speaker, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, has many personal connections to Cary Medical.
Doug Collins was her uncle. Her father, the late Don Collins, served on the Cary Hospital District Board and signed the mortgage for Cary Medical Center; her brother, Greg Collins, is a former board of directors chairperson; and her niece, Clara Collins, is currently on the board of directors. Susan Collins and all five of her siblings were born at Cary Memorial.
As a senator, Collins advocated for earmarking $9.8 million in congressionally directed spending to upgrade Cary Medical’s electronic medical records, approved earlier this year. Another $8.9 million toward a relocation and construction of Pines Health Center’s Caribou location still awaits a vote in the Senate.
Collins said that when her parents Don and Patricia Collins passed away, in 2018 and 2024, respectively, she saw firsthand why Cary Medical’s staff has a positive reputation in the community.
“They treated my parents with nothing but care and compassion and strived to make them as comfortable as possible in their final days,” Collins said.
Collins presented Cary Medical CEO Kris Doody with a United States flag that was flown over the U.S. capitol this week in honor of the hospital’s anniversary. Doody read a statement from Gov. Janet Mills and invited City Mayor Courtney Boma to read a proclamation from the Caribou City Council.
Special guests also included former CEO Jack McCormick; former Hospital District Board member John McElwee; Sandra Huck, president of the Cary Ladies Auxiliary; and Maine CDC Director Puthiery Va.
Va said this week marked her first chance to truly explore Aroostook County and meet with community health leaders on the front lines of local healthcare.
Connections with people at local hospitals like Cary are crucial for state entities like the Maine CDC, Va noted.
“You understand your communities better than we ever could,” Va said. “You’re a medical center, but you’re also an extension of our public health team [at the CDC].”
This year marks Doody’s 43rd year at Cary, with 25 years as CEO. She started as a nurse’s aide in 1981 while earning her nursing degree, and stepped up into the roles of registered nurse, charge nurse, nurse manager and chief operating officer in the ensuing decades.
Amidst the changes in medical technology, staff and healthcare needs, Doody said she has always taken pride in fostering a supportive work culture, which has helped the hospital gain national recognition.
“It’s a testament to the culture that managers have created,” Doody said, about Cary being named one of the Top 100 Places to Work in Maine. “It’s especially an honor because those awards are based on what employees say about working at Cary.”
