A few days after 2021 draws to a close, Northern Light Mercy Hospital’s newly expanded health care campus on Fore River Parkway will be fully open. While we are excited to fully occupy our new spaces and provide more of our services in one convenient location, the long corridors of our hospital on State Street are rich with memories that we collectively cherish and will bring with us to our new campus.

The emergency department at Northern Light Mercy Hospital’s 144 State St. campus in Portland, above, will close Jan. 4, completing the move to the hospital’s new 175 Fore River Parkway campus. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer, File

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Charlie Therrien is president of Northern Light Mercy Hospital in Portland.

The State Street building is an institution that has held the momentous life events of our staff and our patients for decades. Generations of Mercy nurses, doctors and support staff have been providing compassionate and clinically excellent care to all who walked through its doors. Mothers gave birth there, young medical professionals began their storied careers and the Sisters of Mercy cared for the sick, helped heal those in need and comforted countless patients and their loved ones.

The story of Mercy Hospital began in the fall of 1918 with the influenza pandemic, which was one of the greatest health crises in Portland’s history. The Sisters of Mercy answered the call to serve their community then, and now, 103 years later, the call to serve remains stronger than ever.

While we face the challenges of this latest surge, I continue to witness all levels of our organization move mountains to respond to the needs of our community. Under the stresses of this pandemic, through it all, our dedicated staff collaborated in ways that were both innovative, heroic and critical to our region’s public health. From setting up testing sites and vaccination clinics, to quickly ramping up telehealth options, to providing monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19, each step along the way was tackled with the shared goal of caring for all in our community.

While the mass vaccination clinic we established at the Portland Expo administered nearly 50,000 life-saving vaccinations, it’s also in the quieter moments where our mission continues to thrive. Day in and day out, I see our staff providing patients comforting words, a helping hand or a smile from behind layers of PPE. They truly see the whole person, and it’s reflected in the amazing care they provide.

The leadership and legacy of the Sisters of Mercy, including their mission to care for all with special attention to the underserved in our community, has guided our work since the beginning, and it will continue to do so as we prepare to make our final clinical moves from State Street to our expanded Fore River campus. And generations of board members, including our current board of trustees and those who first had the vision to relocate to Fore River, have been critical to advancing our Mercy mission.

Today, we’ve reached a pivotal moment in our history as we prepare to vacate our hospital on State Street and consolidate services and operations to our campus along the Fore River. On Jan. 4, we will open our new emergency department at 175 Fore River Parkway in Portland, and our existing emergency department at 144 State St. will close the same day. The new emergency department will feature a dedicated patient parking lot and a new drop off area for ambulances that is covered and protected from the elements, providing increased safety, convenience and comfort.

Our health care campus also consists of a medical office building that now houses more of our medical practices and a new, easy to access first floor imaging center. The expanded hospital includes new patient care units with all private rooms, and there is a new outpatient specialty and surgery center located next to it where day surgeries will take place.

I would like to thank you, our community, for the ongoing support of our hospital and care teams since our founding and, most recently, with our move. I invite you to visit NorthernLightHealth.org/Mercy to view a map of our campus and learn more about the locations of our services.

We have been honored to be part of your lives at 144 State St., and we look forward to caring for you and your family for generations to come at the new Fore River campus.