SCARBOROUGH, Maine — It's the season of giving, which isn't limited to just toys for children. The Sam L. Cohen Foundation is donating millions of dollars to create a new pediatric infusion center at Maine Medical Center's already existing facility in Scarborough.
"In order for all of our patients to get the infusions that they need here at our clinic, we need more space and more dedicated infusion rooms," pediatric hematology-oncologist Dr. Aaron Weiss said.
Thanks to a $2.25M donation from the foundation, the new pediatric infusion center at Maine Children's Cancer Program will mean 500 more infusions can be given annually to children with cancer and other chronic illnesses.
Those additional infusions will keep children out of crowding hospitals. That includes kids like Devon Blake, diagnosed with Evans syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder, when he was just six years old. Evans syndrome is depleting his platelets.
"Basically, I start bleeding and bruising real easily," Blake explained.
The new infusion center, which is expected to be finished sometime in spring 2022, gives Blake's mother peace of mind.
"It makes me feel more secure to know that if something happens, we don't have to go to Boston or to Barbara Bush. If they have the technology there, it could just be a day in and out instead of a hospital visit," she said.
The $2.25 million donation is the largest in the foundation's history. Jeffrey Nathanson, president of the Sam L. Foundation, said the Maine Children's Cancer Program had a special place in Sam Cohen's heart.