Installed at Maine Historical Society from February 9 – April 27, 2019. Supported by Partners for World Health.
"What greater bliss than to look back on days spent in usefulness, in doing good to those around us."
Dorothea Dix
Student nurse in maternity ward of Maine General Hospital, Portland, 1926
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media
Throughout Maine’s history, individuals have worked to improve and expand medical care, not only for the health of those living in Maine, but for many around the world who need care and help.
Partners for World Health continues that Maine legacy. As a non-profit organization based in Portland, Maine, Partners for World Health is committed to reducing medical waste, improving the quality of healthcare in underserved countries, and educating the local community about global healthcare issues. They collect medical supplies that healthcare facilities in the United States are required to discard and ship them to countries in need. In addition, they organize medical missions to Southeast Asia and Africa for doctors, nurses, and students. While there are other non-profit organizations that aim to meet these two needs, Partners for World Health is the only organization in the United States that does both.
While medical technology and skills have changed over the years, the one constant has been the commitment to care, to help those who are ill or need assistance, in order to improve life for all.
Eastern Maine Medical Center
Explore an exhibition about Eastern Maine Medical Center
One Hundred Years of Caring--Eastern Maine Medical Center
Eastern Maine Medical Center first opened in 1892 as Bangor General Hospital. Despite having only one operating room, the new hospital treated 150 people during its first year.
Organized medical wards for men and women remained constantly busy and by 1902 the need for a children’s ward was apparent. Through private and state funding sources, the hospital grew over the years, expanding with new wards, adding several buildings, operating a nursing school, and acquiring the latest technology to improve care of more patients.
EMMC changed its name to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center system for northern Maine in 2018.
Maine Medical Center
In 1951, the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary, Children's Hospital, Brighton Medical Center, and Maine General Hospital merged to form the Maine Medical Center. In 2019, it is the state’s largest medical center, housing 637 beds and employing around 7,000 people.
The organization began in February 1868, when the State of Maine passed “An Act to incorporate the Maine General Hospital.” Most of the nursing care was provided by students of the Maine General Hospital Training School for Nurses, which graduated its first class in 1887. Electricity replaced kerosene in 1892, though surgeons still preferred using natural light whenever possible.
The 1920s and 1930s were a time for considerable expansion at Maine General Hospital. New medical and surgical services were offered and a clinic opened on India Street to care for patients. The hospital rapidly outgrew the original facility.
Mercy Hospital
The Story of Mercy Hospital began in the fall of 1918, with one of the greatest health crisis in the city's history, the pandemic known as the Spanish Influenza. This emergency, along with limited proper hospital facilities in the Portland area, prompted Bishop Walsh to enlist the help of the Sisters of Mercy.
Over the years, Mercy has faced many challenges; a growing and changing population, and dramatically different medical technologies. At the turn of the 21st century, as those challenges began to exceed the capabilities of the State Street facility, Mercy Hospital embarked on a campaign to create the Mercy Fore River campus. Phase I of Mercy Fore River opened in September 2008 with a state-of-the-art medical office building and an advanced new hospital facility. This provided additional inpatient and outpatient surgical services, diagnostic imaging, laboratory, and The Birthplace.
Western Maine Sanatorium
Explore the exhibit, Among the Lungers: Treating TB
Item Contributed by
Maine Historic Preservation Commission
Sanatoriums for treatment of people with tuberculosis, often built on mountains or hilltops where the air was cool and the breezes frequent, were the best available option in the 1920s for people who contracted the disease.
Maine Medical School at Bowdoin College
The Maine Medical School was founded at Bowdoin College in Brunswick in 1820. It operated for 101 years there, and closed in June of 1921.
In 1891, the faculty of the school made an appeal to the public for aid in moving the medical school to Portland. In this appeal, they wrote, "the medical school must be moved to Portland, where the Maine General Hospital, with its one hundred and twenty-five beds, the Greeley Hospital, the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary, the United States Marine Hospital and Portland Dispensary are available."
In 1899, Maine General Hospital established a teaching institution for the Medical School of Maine. The first two years students attended Bowdoin College, while years three and four were at Maine General Hospital.
Friendly URL: https://www.mainememory.net/exhibits/doinggood
