Maine Medical Center collection

In 1868, the state of Maine passed a resolution to establish a general hospital. At the time, the state was home to only two hospitals, and was experiencing rapid population growth. To meet the state’s expanding needs, the Maine General Hospital (MGH) was incorporated in February 1868, and in 1869 its charter was accepted by the corporators. In 1870, the state deeded to the hospital a plot of land on Bramhall Hill in Portland, considered particularly suitable due to its elevation and separation from the hustle and bustle of the city. The architect Francis Fassett was hired to design the building. The first patient was admitted on November 9, 1874. Construction based on Fassett’s original design continued into the 1890s, maintaining as a priority the provision of large windows for light and ventilation.

In the last decades of the 19th century, MGH expanded its care and facilities, incorporating surgical innovations, installing elevators and electric lights, and adding a children’s ward. In 1877, the Ladies Visiting and Advisory Board of MGH (later called the Women’s Board of MGH) was established to provide financial and practical support to the hospital and its patients. In 1887, the hospital graduated its first class of nursing students from its newly formed nursing school.

The hospital’s medical staff grew steadily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Medical students attending the Medical School of Maine at Bowdoin College and the Portland School for Medical Instruction conducted their clinical studies at MGH, and some went on to work as doctors and administrators at the hospital. Clinical departments, such as obstetrics, orthopedics, and pathology, were added as medical knowledge and practice progressed.

In 1890, the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) opened in Portland, followed by St. Barnabas Hospital in 1904 and Children’s Hospital in 1908. The Visiting Board of the Children’s Hospital, a volunteer organization, formed soon after that hospital’s opening. Physicians at MGH worked with patients at all of these institutions, as well as in private practice. By the 1930s, advances across the field resulted in a variety of new specialties, updated facilities and technologies, an outpatient clinic, and a pavilion of private rooms.

During World War II, the hospital suffered staff shortages. Dozens of MGH doctors and nurses joined the 67th General Hospital Unit and served at a wartime hospital in Taunton, England. In 1948, the Children’s Hospital moved its patients and facilities to the MGH campus and in 1951, MGH, Children’s Hospital, and MEEI merged to form Maine Medical Center (MMC). At the time, MGH, Children’s Hospital, and MEEI had been operating their own nursing schools for decades. These merged as well and formed the new MMC School of Nursing which graduated nurses until closing in 1967. The Women’s Board of MGH and the Visiting Board of the Children’s Hospital continued their services in support of MMC, and in 1958, an additional volunteer group, Friends of MMC, was formed. These various volunteer organizations provided substantial financial and practical support and contributed much to the patient experience.

Developments in medical care proliferated in the last half of the 20th century, and MMC expanded its campus significantly with multiple construction projects, adding a radiation unit, health education center, and new critical and neonatal intensive care units. Clinics and offsite facilities were established, including the Gibson pavilion for cancer care, the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital, and, in 1991, a new MMC Research Institute, building on the hospital’s decades-old research department. In the mid-1990s, Brighton Medical Center/Osteopathic Hospital of Maine (BMC/OHM) merged with MMC. By the late 1990s, the parent company of MMC had established a separate entity entitled MaineHealth to manage MMC and its affiliates in the provision of medical services throughout the state.

MMC and MaineHealth continue to grow and expand their facilities, remaining central healthcare institutions in the state of Maine.

Reference: Maine Medical Center Historical Timelines and Milestones