AUGUSTA, Maine: A $312 million new hospital has opened in central Maine, the first new hospital to open in the state in more than 10 years.
MaineGeneral’s 640,000-square-foot Alfond Center for Health combines inpatient services of MaineGeneral Medical Center’s Thayer campus in Waterville and the East Chestnut Street hospital in Augusta.
Hospital officials and staff have been busily preparing for the hospital’s grand opening including practice runs for moving patients to the new location and training 1,700 employees to use the new facility.
“It’s incredibly exciting now to see it all come together and see the incredible facility,” Chuck Hayes, chief executive officer of Maine General Health told the Portland Press Herald. “It’s a dream come true.”
About 150 patients will be moved from the Thayler campus and East Chestnut street hospital to the new facility, officials said.
Construction on the new hospital began in August 2011 and it was completed seven months earlier than projected. The project is $2 million to $4 million under budget, although there could still be more expenses, Hayes said.
Hays said the Alfond Center for Health is the first hospital to open in Maine since 2001 when the Bridgton Hospital and Mid Coast Hospital opened.
Officials have said the new facility is expected to have half the utility bills of the current facilities thanks to energy-saving features like efficient heating/cooling systems and low-water-flow technology. Anticipated energy costs at the new campus are projected at $3.27 per square foot, compared to $7.80 per square foot currently. -AP
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