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06/30/2008
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Staff Photo by David Leamingfrom the Kennebec Journal
QUESTIONS REMAIN
No complaints from those who switched to Somerset County center
Vote on 1 may hurt some in election
Steeple at center of debate in Whitefield
VETERANS REQUIRE ASSISTANCE: Homelessness takes center stage
J.P. DEVINE: Overcome sadness with hope
BASKETBALL: NBA Hall of Famer Barry doles out advice at Thomas College
HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY: Maranacook sophomore Mace dominates Class B field
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
A year later, families await answers on fatalities
Owner of topless coffee shop on the comeback trail
Officials report cheaper, better service after switch
Two people in critical condition
Young Marines stick to program
Issue of homeless veterans at center stage
GIRLS SOCCER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Winslow falls to York in Class B
Bard hits her marathon stride
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
FARMINGTON -- When Dr. Dora Mills opened her pediatric practice at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington in 1992, she remembers asking for some money to spruce up her new office.
"They gave us $200 to redecorate and (Dr. Iris Silverstein) and I went out and bought some wallpaper," Mills laughed as she spoke during the dedication Sunday of the new $12.9 million Franklin Health Medical Arts Center. "I'm glad (FMH President Richard Batt) and the board have spent a little more this time around."
Mills, a Farmington native, is now director of Maine's Center for Disease Control & Prevention.
Mills, a Farmington native, is now director of Maine's Center for Disease Control & Prevention.
The Medical Arts Center, with spacious open floor plans and large floor-to-ceiling windows facing the new Healing Garden and towering cathedral pines, will house six medical practices and several hospital departments. It connects to the hospital through a glass corridor and will make it convenient for patients and staff to walk to the lab, surgical suites, maternal and child health care units and inpatient rooms.
The striking nature theme of the center's design greets visitors the moment they walk through the glass doors and come into the cathedral ceiling, wood- and-stone lobby. A massive sculpture made of weathered branches is the chandelier, and a 40-foot high fieldstone fireplace is on one side.
An equally tall waterfall with a pool of water and sculpture of a large, leaping trout is on the other.
A circular staircase takes people to the upper floor and additional medical offices, a feature reminiscent of L.L. Bean's in Freeport.
South-facing windows overlook the hospital's towering cathedral pines and the Healing Gardens, still under construction. Inside, every space in the 50,000-square-foot structure is designed to convey the sense that this is a soothing, healing place, said Batt in his remarks to more than 100 staff members and well-wishers.
"Today we are dedicating a new, remarkable medical arts center," he said. "We wanted it to be a healing environment that supports family-centered care ... that would support our efforts to recruit new staff and will be a delightful place to work and practice medicine."
He said the building will provide one-stop access to comprehensive medical services.
The open house offered tours to the hundreds of community members who wanted to get their first glimpse of the building that has been 18 months under construction.
Mills, reflecting on how far medicine has come in Franklin County in the past 100 years, recalled some of the community's medical "giants" who were the early foundation of the hospital.
Dr. Pratt and Dr. Bell were two physicians she mentioned who maintained strong community practices by treating patients from their home offices and who also maintained small in-patient hospitals for the more serious cases. Eighty years ago, Pratt, Bell and other prominent physicians and community leaders worked hard to found a hospital on Fairbanks Road in Farmington. Then, in 1975, Franklin Memorial was built.
"Today, we are reinventing what they were doing 100 years ago with in-patient and out-patient care," she said.
Douglas Walrath, of Strong, a minister and also chairman of the board of directors of the hospital's parent organization, Franklin Community Health Network, said the addition's name emphasizing the medical arts is appropriate.
"Medicine is not only a science. It is an art," he said. "Physicians here know how to treat us medically, but also to treat us as human beings."
Dr. Jay Naliboff, Pine Tree Medical Associates medical director, said architecture affects human behavior, which was why so much attention was given to the design. He said the architect, Harriman Associates, sought input from the staff and that is reflected in the spacious work areas and in the sense of ownership staff feels.
"And being able to walk from the office to the hospital is almost like getting a pay raise by being able to save on gas," he said, smiling, referring to soaring fuel costs.
The new center will house the newly renamed Franklin Health Pediatrics, women's care, orthopedics, general surgery and urology medical practices, as well as the Martha B. Webber Breast Care Center. Also, some departments currently in the hospital will be moved to the facility, including human resources, health information management and care support. It will offer patients easier access to diagnostic services at the hospital, such as radiology, lab services and outpatient specialty care.
H.E. Callahan of Auburn is overseeing construction management. The buildings vacated when the medical practices relocate are being put on the market and will return to Farmington's tax rolls.
Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991
bjespersen@centralmaine.com
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