As a longtime member of Mercy Hospital’s board, I have the honor of working with a committed group of leaders as we prepare to celebrate a century of providing compassionate care to Mainers next year.

Mercy has improved its finances over the past year and is projected to have a positive bottom line for the current fiscal year. This represents an impressive turnaround, and Mercy is now in a growth mode, offering many strong clinical programs including, but not limited to, a growing network of primary care providers, a market-leading orthopedics program and comprehensive breast health services.

Mercy’s plans to consolidate services at the Fore River waterfront campus also continue to move forward. The hospital will file a letter of intent later this year with the state – the first step in the approval process for expanding health care facilities. Current work includes site surveying, building planning, soil testing, and parking and traffic studies.

But Mercy is about much more than financial and business advances: Its mission is focused on patients and giving back to the community. I saw this firsthand during an uplifting and successful George H.W. Bush Cape Arundel Celebrity Classic golf tournament held June 20. It raised money for Gary’s House, a hospitality home operated by Mercy that provides a home away from home for the loved ones of the seriously ill at all Portland hospitals.

As the Portland area’s community hospital, Mercy remains strongly rooted in the trailblazing legacy of the Sisters of Mercy, striving every day to meet the health care needs of all Mainers. It’s also leading local efforts to address the opioid crisis. And Mercy makes Portland stronger by providing the region increased access and choice in health care.

With the good work being done at Mercy right now, I’m confident it will be an even stronger force in the next 100 years.

David Small

Portland