Nantucket Cottage Hospital held its 107^th Annual Meeting on Friday, Aug. 17th and welcomed new members to its Board of Trustees, thanked outgoing members for their service, and honored its volunteers and leaders.

Chairman Kevin Hickey welcomed the new members of the Board of Trustees, including Joseph M. Garasic, MD, Gerry Keneally, and Ian Loring. Hickey also thanked the outgoing members of the Board, including Erwin L. Greenberg, Philip A. Nardone, Jr., and Laura Reynolds.

Hickey and NCH Public Information Officer Jason Graziadei updated attendees on the state of the organization, the status of the new hospital, and other major projects on the horizon. Courtney O’Neill, executive director of the Nantucket Cottage Hospital Foundation, presented the hospital’s annual leadership awards. (more…)

A new article from the Cape Cod Times celebrates the resilient design of the new Nantucket Cottage Hospital and its ability to “survive Category 5 Hurricanes.” The piece notes that “the 106,000 sf, 14-bed hospital is being built to hurricane design specifications established by Miami Dade County – some of the strictest in the country. Canon Design’s David Kelly is quoted in the piece and shares that “Building according to the Florida code allows the hospital to withstand Hurricane Irma-strength winds of 185 mph, rather than 150 mph as specified by Massachusetts codes. The term is resiliency – it’s survivability.”

The full Cape Cod Times piece is available online.

The Hospital Thrift Shop has completed its $500,000 pledge to Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s capital campaign for the island’s new hospital.

The completion of the pledge was announced by Brenda Williams, president of the Hospital Thrift Shop’s Board of Directors, during a recent appreciation dinner hosted by the Nantucket Cottage Hospital Foundation.

In 2014, the Hospital Thrift Shop committed to a pledge of $500,000 to the hospital’s capital campaign, to be fulfilled in 2018.  Each year, part of the Thrift Shop’s annual donation was set aside to fulfill the pledge with the rest of the money going towards the purchase of medical equipment and capital items.

The new Nantucket Cottage Hospital is currently under construction on Prospect Street, and the hospital is continuing to raise funds for its $120 million capital campaign intended for both the new hospital, and the completion of its campus with additional staff housing. (more…)

Caitlin O’Hearn Kaplan, PA-C, has joined the Nantucket Cottage Hospital medical staff as a full-time physician assistant who will support the Walk-In Care service and primary care practices.

Kaplan, who previously worked at Nantucket Cottage Hospital as an emergency room technician, has returned to the island after completing additional education and clinical training through Northeastern University and serving as a physician assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital.

In addition to her familiarity with Nantucket patients through the NCH Emergency Department, Kaplan has also worked with island physician Tim Lepore and the Yale Medical School on three separate studies on tick-borne diseases.

“I am thrilled to have been given the opportunity to return to the place where I started my medical career,” Kaplan said. “I love my island community!” (more…)