Construction starts on Mayo Regional Hospital oncology project

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Two years after receiving a $250,000 memorial gift from a local family to help relocate and expand the oncology services at Mayo Regional Hospital, construction has begun on the new unit.
In January 2015 the hospital announced a $250,000 donation from Jane Hibbard-Merrill and her husband Charles. The gift is in memory of Tracy Hibbard-Kasprzak, the daughter of Hibbard-Merrill and the late Gary M. Hibbard, who died of colon cancer in March 2014. Inspired by Hibbard-Kasprzak’s courage, Hibbard-Merrill and Merrill committed themselves to improving the comfort and privacy of oncology patients and families.
With crews in the midst of work on the second floor facility during the morning of Feb. 20, Hibbard-Merrill had the opportunity to take a few ceremonial swings with a sledgehammer for the oncology services project. With a hard hat on and Merrill and hospital officials looking on, Hibbard-Merrill swung and made the first hole in a wall to come down in the project.
The family’s vision is for the improved oncology department to be relocated from the original Mayo Hospital building to the newer main hospital, remodeling the area to provide more privacy, offer pharmacy services and physician support while creating a homelike atmosphere with support for patients and family members. Other improvements include the addition of state-of-the-art equipment and teleconferencing capability with out-of-town physicians to reduce the need for travel to Bangor for additional services.
Hibbard-Kasprzak’s battle with colon cancer took her to the major oncology hospitals throughout the Northeast, where she had treatments that included radiation, chemotherapy, cyberknife and surgery. Hibbard-Kasprzak, with support from her husband and family members also spent many hours at the Dover-Foxcroft hospital for treatments, and she expressed how nice it would be to have a modern clinic in the main facility
Mayo Regional Hospital Vice President of Patient Care Services Denise Scuderi said the new oncology unit is anticipated to open in May. “It will have four bays and two treatment rooms to serve up to six patients at a time,” Scuderi said.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
BIG SWING AND A HIT — Jane Hibbard-Merrill takes a ceremonial sledgehammer swing on Feb. 20, while her husband Charles Merrill looks on, at the future home of the relocated and expanded oncology unit on the second floor at Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft. Two years ago the hospital announced that Hibbard-Merrill and her family were making a $250,000 gift to oncology services in memory of Hibbard-Merrill’s daughter Tracy Hibbard-Kasprzak.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
NEW ONCOLOGY HOME — Standing in the future site of the oncology department on the second floor of Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft are, from left, hospital Vice President of Patient Care Services Denise Scuderi, CEO Marie Vienneau, project benefactors Jane Hibbard-Merrill and her husband Charles Merrill and Oncology Coordinator Lisa Murray, RN. Two years ago the hospital announced a $250,000 gift from Hibbard-Merrill and family in memory of Hibbard-Merrill’s daughter Tracy Hibbard-Kasprzak.