Hospital & Community Spotlight

(July 22, 2021) – In response to a regional surge of COVID-19 cases, Nantucket Cottage Hospital is expanding its COVID-19 testing services for symptomatic patients or those potentially exposed to COVID-19 on Nantucket, beginning Friday, July 23rd, 2021.

Testing will be offered in the Anderson Building, across the parking lot from the main Nantucket Cottage Hospital building. Patients are asked to wait in their vehicles until they are called to enter in through the side of the building, following the signs from the parking lot. To schedule an appointment, members of the public exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms or who been exposed to a COVID-19 positive individual should call (508) 825-1000 and request COVID-19 testing. Phone lines are open Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., tests on Saturday should be scheduled during the Monday – Friday business hours, and the testing center is closed on Sundays.

“Nantucket Cottage Hospital will continue to respond and adapt to the needs of the community as this situation develops,” said James Lanza, Public Information Officer for the Nantucket Cottage Hospital. “The most important steps individuals can take to safeguard their own health, and the health of others in the community is still to get vaccinated, consider wearing a mask in crowded and public areas, and to follow CDC guidelines as they evolve.”

Boston Pops for Nantucket

Gather with family and friends on Saturday, August 14th at 8 p.m. for a televised special on NCTV Channel 18, the Best of the Beach, in celebration of previous year’s Boston Pops on Nantucket concerts. The program will feature a compilation of our favorite songs from Kenny Loggins in 2016, a selection from RAIN, the Beatles tribute band, from 2018, as well as songs from The Spinners who joined us at Jetties Beach in 2019.

“With the difficult news of The Pops cancellation this year, we wanted to give the community something we can all rally around in celebration of Nantucket Cottage Hospital as we look back at some of our best performances,” said Gary Shaw, President and CEO of Nantucket Cottage Hospital. “The Best of the Beach is just that, an opportunity for our community to get together in our homes, for an event highlighting the spirit of inclusivity and celebration that The Pops brings to Nantucket year after year.”

Sponsored by White Elephant Resorts, Jill and Stephen Karp, the Best of the Beach telecast will air on Nantucket Community Television Channel 18 at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 14th.

We all wish we could be together at Jetties Beach this summer for what would have been the 25th anniversary of the Boston Pops on Nantucket. Unfortunately, as the island transitions out of COVID-19 protocols, municipal resources are stretched too thin to accommodate even a scaled-down concert. Throughout the pandemic, NCH was here for the community – keeping us safe by administering over 30,000 COVID-19 tests and over 18,000 vaccinations. Now is the community’s opportunity to give back and say thanks to our frontline healthcare workers. Every gift makes a difference – from lemonade stand proceeds to corporate gifts – help us raise $2 million to cover the unexpected expenses incurred responding to COVID-19. Click here to donate now and save the date for next year, August 13, 2022!

A statement from Gary Shaw, President and CEO of Nantucket Cottage Hospital:

(June 10, 2021) This year was to have been the 25^th anniversary of The Boston Pops on Nantucket in support of the Nantucket Cottage Hospital. While we hoped to bring this event back to Nantucket this summer, after consulting with the Town we have made the difficult decision to postpone celebration of the 25^th Anniversary of the Pops to 2022.  All of the Island’s resources are stretched while we are re-adjusting to a post-COVID world.  It has been a difficult 15 months for NCH and the loss of financial support from the Pops presents another real challenge.  We are grateful for the support of our donors during this time.  We look forward to bringing The Pops back to Nantucket on August 13, 2022, better than ever.

(June 1, 2021) Nantucket Cottage Hospital is pleased to award 15 Beinecke Scholarships totaling $41,500 to island students and residents pursuing education and training in medical and healthcare fields.

Open to graduates of Nantucket High School, residents of the island, and employees of Nantucket Cottage Hospital, this scholarship fund was created by the late Nantucket businessman and civic leader Walter Beinecke, Jr. in the 1950s. Over the years, Nantucket Cottage Hospital has used the scholarship fund to assist hundreds of island students further their education.

The eligibility of applicants and scholarship recipients are considered by an independent ad hoc committee consisting of NCH and community leaders.

Beinecke, the man who founded Sherburne Associates and is credited with transforming Nantucket into a modern destination resort, was a life member of Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s Board of Trustees. The Beinecke Scholarship Fund’s origins date back to the early 1950s when his father, Walter Beinecke, Sr., made annual gifts through the hospital to Nantucket High School graduates to help them pay for nursing school. After his father’s death in 1958, Walter Beinecke, Jr. formally established the scholarship fund in his memory.

The 2021 Beinecke Scholarship recipients are:

• Betsey Brooks
• Brooke Campbell
• Kate Daniels
• Sabin Dhamala
• Jessica Douglas
• Tajaun Francis
• Claudia Hofford
• Saadia Lewis
• Eve Manghis
• Caitlin Mattheson
• Sarah Trottier
• Renee Printz
• Tatiana Quiada-Lemus
• Linda Strachan
• Joelle Viera