Bangor hospital awarded $500K grant for fundraising effort

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - The Cornelia Cogswell Rossi Foundation is granting $500,000 to the Acadia Hospital’s ‘Acadia for All’ campaign.

The Rossi Foundation honors the legacy of a philanthropic couple with deep ties to Maine and focuses its giving on public health.

With this grant, the campaign has now raised a little more than $5 million.

“Fundraising has been unbelievable. To be honest, I was a little nervous going into a campaign like this. But at the same time, I’m not totally surprised at the support we’re getting given the fact that mental health is such an issue for all communities, not just here in Maine but across the nation,” said Scott Oxley, president, Acadia Hospital.

The money will address four areas. The majority will go to the most visible part of the project, the expansion of inpatient beds.

Other components include better care for Maine’s youth and older population, as well as workforce development.

“The financial impact is huge. It obviously goes a long way for us to meet our goals. But, more importantly, when we develop these new relationships like with the Rossi Foundation, a relationship we did not have until this point, I think it says a lot about the project. The fact that they have confidence in us, in our project. The money is nice, but the confidence that they have, and the community have in this project goes a long way,” Oxley said.

We’re told the project is on time and on budget.

Construction at the Bangor hospital is scheduled to wrap up later this year.

The new space is set to open in early 2024.

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