Machias and Calais – Down East Community Hospital and Calais Community Hospital held its annual meeting of the Corporators on Wednesday, June 11. CEO, Steve Lail, reported the financial health of both hospitals as well as accomplishments, recruitment, and community outreach. Mr. Lail reported that Calais Community Hospital ended the year with a gain of $733,011 and that Down East Community Hospital ended with a gain of $4,277,557. You can find more detailed information in the 2024 Annual Report which is available on the DECH and CCH websites.
Board Chair, Jacqueline O’Clair, provided a message from the board and thanked the Administration, staff, and Trustees for their hard work. She welcomed new Board Member Megan Walsh, and new Corporator, Sharon Hext. She also paid tribute to Mike Hennessey and Corey Schwinn who termed off the Board this year.
New Board Member, Megan Walsh, Ph.D., is the Dean and Campus Director of the University of Maine at Machias. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Temple University and a B.A. in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her published research has been supported by: The McNeil Center of Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, The Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture at the University Virginia, and the Harry Ransom Center at University of Texas at Austin.
New Corporator, Sharon Hext, worked for Down East Community Hospital as the Volunteer Coordinator for many years and currently serves as a volunteer at DECH. She has served as a volunteer for other organizations as well such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Rapid Response, Hospice, Make-A-Wish, and Sawyer Memorial Congregational Church.
Mike Hennessey and Corey Schwinn have completed their terms on the Board, and we are grateful for the many years they dedicated to the Board and our organization. Mike has served on the Board of Trustees for thirteen years. He has held positions of Secretary, Treasurer, Vice Chair, Finance Committee Chair and served on the Compliance, Governance, and Executive Committees. Mike, who resides with his family in Northfield, is a partner/producer at Varney Agency in Machias. Corey Schwinn has served on the Board for nine years. He has served on the Governance Committee and was Compliance Chair for many of those years. He currently works as the Clinical Director for Sunrise Opportunities and resides in Marshfield with his family.
This year we had two physicians, who played important roles in the community, pass away. CEO, Steve Lail, on the passing of Dr. Rathod and Dr. Gaddis, “Dr. Rathod was a urologist at DECH for twelve plus years. He was such a warm and nice man who always had interesting stories to tell. We missed him when he retired and were saddened to hear of his passing. We also lost Dr. John Gaddis. Dr. Gaddis had served several roles inside and outside of the hospital over his long career of practicing in Washington County. He always attended the annual meeting every year and I enjoyed catching up with him and remember several stories he told me about being in the Merchant Marines during the Vietnam War. He was remembered during our Light a Life celebration in December and several staff related stories about him over the years. He was definitely a local institution and will be missed.”
Current members of the board are Jackie O’Clair, Chair, Judd Bragg, PharmD, Vice Chair, Nate Martell, Secretary, Ian Pratt, Treasurer, John Corrigan, Betty Marshall, Julie Jordan, Jody Dennison, Rita Ten, MD, Raymond Howard, MD, Megan Walsh, Dwight Perkins, and Steve Lail.
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