Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center (Maine) facts for kids

Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center is a hospital at 93 Campus Avenue in Lewiston, Maine adjacent to Bates College. It is part of a complex of care facilities now operated by Covenant Health Systems, a Roman Catholic non-profit organization based in Massachusetts. The hospital has 233 beds. It was founded in 1888 by the Grey Nuns, and has been a major provider of emergency health services in the Lewiston-Auburn area since.

Campus

The medical center is located just south of the Bates College campus, and occupies a triangular lot bounded by Campus Avenue and Golder and Sabattus Streets. Separating the medical center from the campus is St. Mary's d'Youville Pavilion, a senior care facility also operated by Covenant Health. Access to the hospital is via a circular drive on Sabattus Street. The facility's largest buildings are the result of expansion in the 1960s in 1970s.

History

The hospital was founded in June 1888 by the Sisters of Charity of St. Hyacinthe, and was the first Catholic-run hospital in the state. The sisters originally converted the Sarah J. Golder house into a 30-bed hospital and orphanage. Saint Mary's hospital was also known as the Sister's Hospital, the French Hospital, or the Catholic Hospital. The first purpose-built hospital building was constructed in 1902. This Late Gothic Revival building was designed by Lewiston architect William R. Miller, and still forms part of the facility today. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 for its architecture and historical significance.

COVID-19 Pandemic

On April 3, 2020, the Portland Press Herald reported that St. Mary's was "requiring employees to use their own sick or vacation time" if they need to be quarantined for 14 days after coronavirus exposure. By contrast, "Maine's two largest hospital systems are offering employer-paid leave if they need to be quarantined" for coronavirus exposure. St. Mary's spokesperson Jason Gould confirmed the hospital's leave policy as described in the report. Three days after the report, St. Mary's president Steven Jorgensen reversed the policy and in a memo to hospital employees, stating that "employees who are quarantined for COVID-19 work-related exposure will now receive their 'regular pay' and that, 'employees who were previously quarantined and used earned time will have their earned time restored.'"