This week we gathered former residents of the old nurses dormitory on the Nantucket Cottage Hospital campus before the structure is removed to make room for the new hospital. These nurses, techs and other hospital staff who lived in “The Dorm” at various points between 1961 and 1999, some of whom still work at the hospital, were part of a memorable chapter in the history of NCH. On Thursday, these women gathered for a photo outside the nurses dorm and traded hilarious and heartwarming stories from their days living on the hospital campus.

The open enrollment period for the Massachusetts Health Connector, the state-based health insurance marketplace, begins Nov. 1st and runs through Jan. 31st, 2017.

During open enrollment, individuals and families can change their current plan, and those who are uninsured can shop for and enroll in one of the plans offered through the Health Connector.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s Health Care Advocates in the Social Services Department, Maria Gutierrez (508-825-8256) and Kathy Butterworth (508-825-8387), are available to assist island residents with this process. Please call to schedule an appointment.

The Health Connector web site, MAhealthconnector.org, is also available to those who want to review plans, shop and enroll.

The annual enrollment and change period for Medicare’s Part D Prescription drug plans begins Oct. 15^th and runs through December 7th.

To get Medicare prescription drug coverage, you must be enrolled in, or join a plan run by an insurance company or other private company approved by Medicare. Each plan can vary in cost and drugs covered.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s Social Services Department provides one-on-one consultations for those Medicare recipients who wish to enroll or review their current prescription plan. Due to the fact that plans can change yearly, NCH Social Services Manager Peter MacKay advises island residents to look over their plans on an annual basis to ensure it is the best option to meet their needs. (more…)

Nantucket Cottage Hospital announced today that Steve Gilgen, MBA, CPA, has been appointed as the hospital’s new Chief Financial Officer following an extensive search process.

Gilgen joins the NCH team after more than 27 years as the CFO of Murphy Medical Center in Murphy, NC, a 57-bed critical access hospital that included a 134-bed skilled nursing facility and a rural health clinic. At Murphy Medical Center, Gilgen was responsible for all financial areas of the organization including financial reporting, budget, managed care, and cost reporting. He will bring an extensive background in community hospitals and accounting to Nantucket Cottage Hospital. (more…)

“The irony of spending hours in the ER at the Nantucket Cottage Hospital, afternoon into early evening, on the day that the island’s biggest fundraiser for the Nantucket Cottage Hospital with the Boston Pops was being held, was not lost on me.

This served to sharpen even more the critical need all of us have to have a beautifully functioning, efficient and medically competent hospital in place. For that was what my houseguest and I found Saturday afternoon. Head over handlebars on an unfamiliar bike brought my friend in, walking into the ER having trouble breathing, in pain, bearing the mark of this accident with obvious scrapes and bloody leg and arm. We had barely sat down at the first step of admittance when a nurse appeared to check vital signs and importantly, listen for signs of a collapsed lung. The wonderfully compassionate and smart admissions person had called in for immediate examination. Thankfully, no collapsed lung, so into waiting room we went. (more…)