Anew medical office building is in the works for Southern Maine Health Care, the entity formed from the merger of Southern Maine Medical Center and Goodall Hospital on January 1, 2014. The $9 million, 41,000-square-foot project, designed by SMRT, is slated for completion in the fall.
The future Edward J. McGeachey Medical Office Building honors McGeachey’s three-plus decades of service to SMMC, the past 25 years as president and CEO. (He continues in that role for SMHC.) Service to the Maine health care community runs in the McGeachey family. Ed McGeachey, Sr. wore many hats at Maine Medical Center, including that of assistant director of the hospital. McGeachey Hall at 216 Vaughan Street in Portland is named in his honor.
“Ouellet has helped the hospital on several smaller jobs, and we’re pleased they’re on board for this major project,” says McGeachey. “They are quality people and they do quality work, which is important to SMHC because we believe that everything associated with our health care system should speak to our excellence. I’m especially excited about this project, as my name will be on the building, which is very special.”
“It’s nice working with a local company that understands our goals—and our quirks,” adds Marc Fournier, vice president of support services at Southern Maine. “We’re not just another project for them. OC has demonstrated a willingness to dive deep into our culture and meet our goals as a team player, time and again.”
Before OC could break ground for construction in Biddeford’s Robert G. Dodge Business Park, there was the matter of a little earthwork; the team had to excavate approximately 10,000 cubic-yards of granite, which they did with the help of 14,060 pounds of explosives. “This is every boy’s dream,” says OC vice president of operations Dean Ouellet. “It’s not every day that you get to blow stuff up.”