The family of former L.L.Bean president and board chairman Leon Gorman has donated $4 million to Maine Medical Center to pay for the lobby of the hospital’s $525 million expansion.
The lobby will be located in the new 265,000-square-foot Congress Street building, which will also include a new main entranceway, as well as 64 patient rooms and 19 cardiovascular care rooms. The lobby will be named after the late Leon Gorman, according to Maine Med officials. Gorman died in 2015 at age 80, and in addition to leading the company for 34 years, was known as a conservationist and philanthropist.
The building will be part of the third phase of the five-year expansion project, which also includes a new helipad to receive patients with life-threatening conditions, an addition to the East Tower, a new employee parking garage, and an addition to the visitors’ parking garage.
Rich Petersen, president and CEO of Maine Med, said the “generous” donation will “provide a tremendous boost” to the project.
“This will go right into supporting and funding the expansion project,” Petersen said. Fundraising has always been a key part of paying for the project, but the fundraising effort is in the early stages.
The donation comes from Lisa Gorman, Leon Gorman’s widow, his children and their spouses.
“This gift is a joint venture with Leon’s children, my wonderful stepchildren, Jeff and Sonya Gorman and Jennifer and Bennett Wilson. I like to think of our gift as the old and new generations coming together to show their love for Maine and their desire to ensure it has the most advanced medical services available,” Lisa Gorman said in a statement. “This is one of the most important gifts we can give to the people of Maine.”
The “soaring lobby” will be the “centerpiece” of the new building, which is expected to be completed by 2022, according to a Maine Med news release.
A late summer tour conducted by hospital executives led to the donation.
“When we toured the hospital with Chief Executive Officer Rich Petersen and Chief Medical Officer Joel Botler, we saw a facility that does not yet support the world-class care that staff can give and the people of Maine deserve,” Lisa Gorman said.
“After we left we stayed right in the parking lot and talked about what we saw and how we wanted to be a major part of this project. Right there we made our decision to make our contribution. We were convinced that the changes are necessary and the leadership is in place to implement the plan.”
Petersen said in a statement that the “extraordinary gift” represents a partnership with Maine Med that will work toward making “our communities the healthiest in America.”
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