ROCKPORT — Pen Bay Medical Center (PBMC) is celebrating the opening of a new 42,000-square-foot Health Center on its Rockport campus – and the opportunity it presents to expand and improve access to primary care in our coastal communities.

With additional precautions in place to ensure the safety of patients and care team members during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, PBMC welcomed the first patients into the new space in early December. The facility opened in earnest on December 14 with all offices seeing patients.

“We know that improving access to high quality primary care is one of the best ways to improve a community’s health,” said Mark Fourre, MD, president of PBMC and Waldo County General Hospital, in a news release. “This new Health Center is critical to our efforts to do just that, and it embodies our commitment to the health of this community.

“Not so long ago, we faced a pressing shortage of primary care providers,” he said. “We responded by hiring numerous providers across Coastal Healthcare Alliance over the past four years, with a focus on primary care and pediatrics. This new facility gives them and the growing primary care team a space that empowers them to deliver the best care possible for our patients.”

Before the Health Center opened, PBMC’s primary care practices were scattered across several locations off campus. The new facility brings them under one roof. It will house Internal Medicine and Family Medicine, Pediatrics and Pediatric Physical and Occupational Therapy, Audiology and Speech Pathology, and the Ear, Nose and Throat practice. It also provides space where specialists from the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center can meet with patients in Rockport, reducing the need for children with special health needs to travel to Portland.

“The Health Center marks an important step forward for this community,” said PBMC chief Medical Officer Mark Eggena, MD, PhD. “It will improve the health care we bring to the community by making it easier for physicians and staff to collaborate and connect patients with the wellness, prevention and specialty services they need.”

Dr. Eggena described the Health Center as an especially safe place for patients to come for their health care during the pandemic.

“The safety of patients and care team members is our first priority,” he said. “The pandemic has taught us that delaying care and routine screenings such a mammograms and colonoscopies out of fear of COVID-19 can lead to serious health complications.”

COVID-19 forced the hospital to change plans for the way it marked the opening. Instead of a large public celebration, PBMC held a series of small private ribbon cutting ceremonies, and all participants wore masks and maintained social distancing. A video of the event can be viewed on YouTube at https://bit.ly/pbmcribboncutting.

The $16-million Health Center is being funded solely through the Campaign for Coastal Health. Philanthropic support included a $2 million gift from MaineHealth and a gift of $500,000 from the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital.

A number of local businesses supported the campaign with major donations, including Allen Agency, Camden National Bank, Horch Roofing, O’Hara Corporation and Viking Lumber. Other, local donors included CedarWorks and The First National Bank.

Early foundation contributors include the Sunshine Lady Foundation, the Libra Foundation, the Davis Family Foundation, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and the Fisher Foundation.

In addition, PBMC care team members across the organization donated more than $500,000 to the capital campaign that raised money for the project.

Ann Bresnahan, who co-chaired the capital campaign along with Dr. Eggena, praised all who contributed.

“I have always known that PBMC was committed to its vision of making our community the healthiest in America,” Bresnahan said. “What this fundraising effort has shown me is that the community shares this vision, too. I am so encouraged by what I have heard and seen over the past two years of this effort, and I have no doubt that we will reach our goal.”

Pen Bay Medical Center

Pen Bay Medical Center is part of MaineHealth, a not-for-profit integrated health system consisting of nine local hospitals, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and more than 1,600 employed and independent physicians working together through an Accountable Care Organization. With more than 19,000 employees, MaineHealth is the largest health system in northern New England and provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. For more information, please visit pbmc.org.