Medical Center announced a gift of $4 million provided by Lisa Gorman and the children of L.L. Bean Chairman Emeritus Leon Gorman and their spouses: Jeff and Sonya Gorman, and Jennifer and Bennett Wilson. The gift continues the Gorman family’s tradition of visionary philanthropic giving in Maine and will help make possible the medical center’s vision for providing patients and guests with a welcoming, open and shared space that embodies MMC’s commitment to patient centered care.
“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,” said Lisa Gorman. “This is one of the most important gifts we can give to the people of Maine.”
In recognition of the gift, the planned Congress St. building lobby will be named after the late Leon Gorman, who served as L.L. Bean’s president (1967-2001), board chairman (2001-2013) and chairman emeritus (2013-2015). He also served as member of the Maine Medical Center Board of Trustees (1985-1994).
The soaring lobby of the new Congress Street building will be the centerpiece of the new structure expected to commence construction in 2020 and be completed by the end of 2022. The design will contribute to wayfinding and orientation and will visually and physically connect the new Congress Street building to the ground floor levels of the existing Bramhall campus.
“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.”
The Congress Street Tower is part of MMC’s $525 million expansion and modernization project now under construction. MMC is creating 128 new private patient rooms, adding 19 procedure rooms for surgeries and other complex treatments, providing an additional 225 spaces for patient and visitor parking, and consolidating MMC employee parking into one nearby garage that will meet current demand and future growth. The project, which will also reorient the front of the hospital to Congress Street, optimizes bed capacity at the state’s largest hospital and modernizes its aging facilities. Construction is expected to be completed by 2022.
“Working together so our communities are the healthiest in America – that is our vision and our commitment to the people of Maine” said MMC President and CEO Rich Petersen. “Lisa, Jeff, Sonya, Jennifer and Bennett share that vision and their extraordinary gift represents a partnership to bring that commitment to life. We applaud their generosity and are honored to have their vote of confidence as we work to provide facilities that match the capabilities of our care teams.”
Maine Medical Center (MMC), recognized as a Best Regional Hospital by U.S. News and World Report for 2017-2018, is a complete health care resource for the people of Greater Portland and the entire state, as well as northern New England.
