May 17, 2024
An aerial view of the Malone Family Tower on the MaineHealth Portland Campus
PORTLAND, Maine – Maine Medical Center (MMC) is scheduled to begin admitting patients to its new 300,000-square-foot Malone Family Tower located on Congress Street on June 9. The Malone Family Tower, which will primarily serve cardiac and cardiovascular patients, is the final piece of the medical center’s multi-year expansion and modernization project to enhance patient access to hospital-based care, create more private rooms and help facilitate better patient outcomes.
The eight-story Malone Family Tower increases MMC’s capacity to care for patients and represents a significant modernization of its facilities. The building includes 96 private patient rooms, 10 operating rooms, nine procedure rooms, and 40 pre- and post-procedure beds. Sitting atop the tower will be a new 20,000-square-foot sterile processing department (SPD) that will serve all of the operating and procedure rooms at Maine Medical Center. The building also features ample space for patients and visitors as well as multi-disciplinary collaboration and learning for care team members.
The Malone Family Tower, with its glass exterior designed to bring in natural light, transforms a major gateway into the city of Portland. Visitors to the tower can drive up and drop off patients before directly accessing MMC’s patient and visitor garage on Congress Street; valet parking will also be available at the tower’s entrance. The Congress Street entrance will supplement the hospital’s main entrance on Bramhall Street.
“The Malone Family Tower is a much-needed investment in our patients, our care team and our entire region,” said MaineHealth Southern Region President Britt Crewse. “Without a doubt, the modern clinical care space in this facility will improve our ability to serve our state’s most acutely ill patients with the highest-quality care.”
The Malone Family Tower was developed to meet a growing need for cardiac and cardiovascular care in the region with flexible spaces that promote collaboration and innovation among members of MMC’s nationally recognized cardiovascular care team. It also adds 32 intensive care unit (ICU)-level beds to the hospital, bringing MMC’s total ICU bed capacity to slightly more than 100.
“MMC’s cardiovascular team provides extraordinary care, and with the Malone Family Tower we have a facility that matches that high bar,” said MaineHealth Southern Region Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joel Botler. “Today, we cannot serve all of the patients who require this type of care at Maine Medical Center. This tower allows us to meet that need both today and for tomorrow.”
MMC performs the most cardiac and cardiovascular procedures in Maine, including more than 1,200 open heart surgeries, approximately 5,000 catheter-based procedures and about 600 ablations a year.
“With more procedures requiring large, interdisciplinary teams, advanced imaging and other technologies, our new operating and procedure spaces can accommodate the latest advances in cardiac therapeutics and treatments, while also providing a more comfortable environment for our patients,” Botler said.
The building was created with sustainability in mind. It is designed to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certified and construction materials were recycled whenever possible. The tower also has a “green roof” to reduce water runoff, minimize any “heat island” effect and offer a calming space for patients and care team members.
The tower provides a much-needed enhancement to MMC’s campus infrastructure, which was built out over several decades. The building was completed on time and on budget, despite facing numerous construction challenges during the pandemic and a period of significant inflation. The project was designed to minimize operating costs by stressing flexibility, utility and efficiency.
“Health care excellence requires strategic, fiscally responsible investment,” Crewse said. “The Malone Family Tower was built with an eye toward Maine’s future, in keeping with the MaineHealth vision of working together so our communities are the healthiest in America. Many people, from city, state and federal officials to clinical experts, to construction and trades professionals and many others kept us on track and we are so grateful to them all.”
The completion of the Malone Family Tower will mark the end of MMC’s expansion and modernization project that began construction in 2018 and also includes:
An expansion of the hospital’s patient and visitor parking garage, completed in 2019.
The addition of two additional floors – containing a total of 64 private rooms – and the Linda and Diana Bean Sisters Heliport atop MMC’s Coulombe Family Tower, completed in 2019.
A new parking garage for the MMC care team, completed in 2020.
A new medical office building dedicated to specialty care on MMC’s Scarborough campus, completed in 2021.
Funding for the $378 million Malone Family Tower comes from reserves, operating revenues, grants, bonds and most importantly, generous donations from the community. It is named in recognition and appreciation of John and Leslie Malone, whose $25 million donation to The NEXT 150|The Campaign for Maine Medical Center in 2021 was the largest single philanthropic gift in MMC’s history. More than 2,600 benefactors supported THE NEXT 150 capital campaign between 2017 and 2023, as MMC raised $179 million in designated funds to support its mission through facility expansion and modernization, workforce development, and innovation and clinical research.
Note: High-quality photos and video, including a time lapse of construction and aerials, are available for download at https://assets.mainehealth.org/share/743EA5CD-8A24-46E9-9005D327C33751A7/
Courtesy: MaineHealth
Contact: Caroline Cornish
caroline.cornish@mainehealth.org
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