PORTLAND, Maine — Maine Medical Center (MMC) has received a $1 million pledge from Jon and Dan Shaw, founders of Shaw Brothers Construction. In recognition and appreciation, MMC will name the open air causeway — to be constructed on Congress Street in front of a new patient care tower — in honor of Sally Shaw, Jon and Dan Shaw’s late mother. The contribution is the single largest commitment in the Shaw Brothers’ philanthropic history.
According to MMC, the Sally Shaw Causeway is designed to be a welcoming space for the approximately 24,000 patients and families who are expected to pass through the entrance to MMC’s new Congress Street Tower each year once construction is complete in 2023. The tree-lined sloping path will include native plants and boulders, and natural seating will aim to provide fresh air and sunshine to all those spending time at the hospital, according to MMC. It also will serve as a gateway to MMC’s vibrant Congress Street neighborhood.
“Jon and Dan are incredibly generous people who are deeply committed to this community. We’re exceptionally grateful for the support they have shown over the years that has helped lay the groundwork for environments of care that improve the health of people throughout Maine and New Hampshire,” MMC CEO and MaineHealth President Richard Petersen said. “This important contribution will move us closer to our vision of making Maine’s communities the healthiest in America.”
MMC chose to honor the memory of Sally Shaw with this natural setting because of her love of gardening, and the feel and smell of soil. Sally Shaw was known to can vegetables and share perennials with her family and friends, even as she raised nine children on a farm in Gorham with her husband, Dewayn, who was her high school sweetheart. Her sons, Jon and Dan Shaw, have focused many of their philanthropic efforts towards facilitating ways for community members to enjoy the outdoors.
MMC is expected to break ground on the Congress Street Tower and causeway this fall. According to the hospital, the patient care tower will add five floors of clinical services including 64 patient rooms with universal beds and 19 procedure rooms. The tower will become the new home of cardiovascular care at MMC. This vision for patient-centered care that serves Maine’s most complex cases in a state of the art setting resonated with Shaw Brothers Construction and their desire to see all Mainers receive the care they require.
“Maine Medical Center has been there for our employees, our families and for anyone who needs quality medical care,” Jon Shaw said. Dan Shaw added, “Shaw Brothers Construction is proud to support MMC’s modernization while honoring our mother. We believe that The Sally Shaw Causeway will serve as a living testament to her love for family, gardening, and community.”
The Congress Street Tower expansion project was unanimously approved in December 2018 by the Portland Planning Board as part of the third site plan application under MMC’s $534 million expansion and modernization project. Overall, the entire project will add 128 private rooms, add 19 procedure rooms for surgeries and other complex treatments, and provide additional parking for patients, visitors and staff. The hospital said it will also create a modern, state-of-the-art medical office building allowing MMC and Maine Medical Partners to further develop its ambulatory care practices in Scarborough, convenient and easily accessible for patients and their families.
In recognition for all the service provided over the years by Shaw Brothers Construction on Maine Medical Center campuses, MMC also will be naming a new road in their honor on the Scarborough campus. Shaw Brothers Way will lead patients to the new medical office building currently under construction that will house neurology, neurosurgery and vascular surgery. The new medical office building is on schedule for completion in early 2021.
Shaw Brothers has received two competitively bid sub-contracts on MMC’s facility project. The awards were based on safety record, pricing and local hiring.
