“I am extremely pleased with the results of our expansion/renovation project. The project enhances our capabilities to meet key clinical needs in a progressive outpatient environment,” said Ralph Gabarro, Mayo’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are grateful for the strong financial support from the community that helped make this project possible.”

Ground was broken for the $8 million project in May, 2001, after more than two years of assessment and planning. Financing was arranged through the Maine Municipal Bond Bank, with additional funds raised in the hospital’s Capital Campaign.

Work was completed in two phases. Phase I, which was finished in fall, 2002, saw the construction of a two-story Resource Center at the rear of the hospital, and a 5,500-square-foot Emergency Department on the east end. The Resource Center houses Rehabilitation Services, the WorkWISE occupational health program and business offices on one floor, and administration, medical records, and conference rooms on another level. The Emergency Department more than doubled space available previously in this busy area, which receives over 12,000 annual patient visits.

Renovations of existing space associated with Phase I were completed in order to provide enlarged areas for Obstetrics, Radiology, Cardiopulmonary Services and Patient Registration. Other Phase I work included demolition of the annex on the Old Mayo Building, expansion of short-term patient parking and landscaping to the hospital’s main entrance area.

Phase II of Mayo’s expansion was originally scheduled for spring of 2003, but the Hospital Administrative District 4 Board of Directors decided to move that timetable ahead in order to take advantage of the momentum created by Phase I and cost savings associated with an accelerated schedule. A $250,000 donation from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, the largest single gift ever received by Mayo, also factored into the decision.

In addition, Phase II renovated 3,000 square feet of existing space, adding room for the growing Surgical Services Department, and creating space on Mayo’s second floor to accommodate the Pharmacy, which had been located in the hospital basement.

As a result of the completed project, Mayo has now located all of its outpatient services on the hospital’s first floor, and all inpatient services on the second floor.

The need for improved outpatient space was a key driver for the entire project, since outpatient services now account for 65% of all hospital revenues.

Deborah Surette, M.D., an obstetrician and gynecologist, started Aug. 19 as the new physician at Mayo Women’s Health. She has moved to Dover-Foxcroft from the Hartford, Conn., area, where she practiced OB-GYN for the past three years.

Elisa Thompson Ruksznis, M.D., is a family practice physician who started Aug. 25 at Dover-Foxcroft Family Medicine. A native of Guilford, she has returned to her home area to begin a medical career after completing a three-year family practice residency program at Eastern Maine Medical Center earlier this summer.

Dr. Surette, who is certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, will be providing complete obstetrical care, including prenatal care, labor and delivery, and postpartum care. She will also be providing complete gynecological services, from routine preventive care to surgery, as well as evaluation of abnormal PAP smears, abnormal bleeding, and pelvic floor defects. She is particularly interested in the care of perimenopausal women.

Dr. Surette started out in nursing, and worked as a nurse for 10 years before attending the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, from which she graduated in 1996.

“I found while practicing nursing that what intrigued me the most was medical diagnosis, which was outside the scope of nursing practice. In order to do what I truly found most interesting in the medical field, I had to go to medical school. . .So I did!,” said Dr. Surette.

“I believe my experience in nursing has given me additional insights into what patients need and expect from a health care provider. It also gives me a unique perspective on how to better interact and relate to other medical staff members.”

While a fourth-year medical student, Dr. Surette spent time working in rural medicine in Lincoln, and the experience was so positive that she and her family began to consider moving to Maine.

“We loved the area, and we talked many times since then of eventually relocating to northern Maine,” said Dr. Surette. “A few months ago, we asked ourselves, why wait until we retire? We decided to look for work where we really wanted to live and found Mayo Regional and Dover-Foxcroft.”

Dr. Surette and her husband, Rick, have been married 26 years and have three daughters.

Dr. Ruksznis knew from the start that after going away to finish her education, she would be coming back home to start a career. “I have been rooted to this area and always intended to return to have a career here,” she said.

Returning to Mayo Regional Hospital closes the circle for her, since Dr. Ruksznis was born at the old Mayo Memorial Hospital and was delivered by Dr. Charles Lightbody, who still lives in the area.

After graduating from Piscataquis Community High School, Dr. Ruksznis studied biology at Bowdoin College and decided halfway through her undergraduate years to pursue a medical career.

“I was interested in human biology, but research or teaching didn’t resonate as career choices for me,” she recalled. “I then volunteered in the Emergency Room in a Brunswick hospital, and that experienced solidified the idea that medicine could be a career. I also knew there was an obvious need for doctors in Piscataquis County.”

Dr. Ruksznis earned her medical degree at Dartmouth Medical School, and while in medical school and residency training she kept in contact with Mayo Regional, completing clinical rotations in Dover-Foxcroft and moonlighting as a weekend resident at the hospital this year.

Diversity drew Dr. Ruksznis to family practice, where she is especially interested in obstetrics and women’s health. “I like it that there’s always something different coming through the door. It might be a pregnant woman one minute, and an elderly person the next,” she said.

Dr. Ruksznis is married to Peter Ruksznis, who is also a native of the area, and who works as a state fisheries biologist.

Her parents still live in her home town. Her father, William Thompson, teaches physics at PCHS and is chairman of the Guilford Board of Selectmen. Her mother, Sheila, is a founder of the Little Miracles Country School.

Joanne L. Hegarty, FNP of Sangerville has joined Dexter Internal Medicine, working on Tuesdays and Wednesdays with Dr. Robert Lodato. Lisa Starkweather, FNP of Stetson has joined Dexter Family Practice, working four days each week with Dr. Challa Reddy, Dr. Usha Reddy and Angela Del Vecchio, FNP.

Nurse practitioners are experienced registered nurses who have advanced education and clinical training. They treat patients for routine physical examinations, immunizations, prenatal care and common health problems, and prescribe or recommend prescriptions for medications.

Hegarty has been a registered nurse since 1996, and graduated from the UMaine Family Nurse Practitioner program in 2002 with a master’s degree in nursing. She has a special interest in women’s health issues. Besides working at Dexter Internal Medicine, Hegarty also works as a staff nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at Mayo Regional Hospital.

Starkweather has been a registered nurse since 1993, when she graduated from UMaine with a B.S.N. degree. She then graduated from the UMaine FNP program with her master’s degree in 2003, after working for nine years as a registered nurse on the cardiac telemetry unit at Eastern Maine Medical Center.

This $8 million initiative has resulted in new construction of an Emergency Department, outpatient Resource Center and Ambulatory Services Unit. Much of the existing hospital has also undergone extensive renovations.

While the bulk of this project has been financed by borrowing through the Maine Municipal Bond Bank, Mayo is extremely grateful for community support of a Capital Campaign that has exceeded expectations by raising $758,000 in donations. In a time of diminishing reimbursement from the state and federal governments, private contributions have never been more important to non-profit community hospitals.

Mayo will continue the momentum generated from its facility expansion during the 2003 Annual Appeal, and asks that members of the public consider contributing to this cause. The 2003 Appeal will meet the needs of the hospital’s bustling Surgical Services Department, which has expanded into the recently opened Ambulatory Services Unit, by raising $49,500 to purchase a Laparoscopy cart that includes laparoscopic instruments and related equipment.

Laparoscopy is the exploration of the body’s abdominal area employing a type of endoscope called a laparascope. An endoscope is a device consisting of a flexible tube and optical system for observing the inside of an organ or cavity.

The Laparoscopy equipment is versatile and may be used in a variety of general surgical procedures, as well as in orthopaedic and obstetrical cases.

Mayo’s Surgical Services Department had an extremely busy year in 2002, completing 2,209 surgical procedures. The great majority of those cases, nearly 1,700 in all, were performed on an outpatient basis, often using an endoscope.

Purchase of this laparoscopy equipment will allow Mayo to continue to keep pace with the medical technology that is so important to the hospital’s ability to provide the highest-quality patient care.

Recent community philanthropic support has enabled Mayo to purchase mammographic imaging equipment, a new ambulance, and bedside monitors for the Intensive Care Unit, in addition to assisting with the Capital Campaign for the hospital’s expansion project.

Community members wishing to donate funds to this important effort are asked to clip out the card below, fill in the requested information, and mail the card with their contribution to Development Office, Mayo Regional Hospital, 897 West Main St., Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426.

All gifts are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.