(December 1, 2017) Nantucket Cottage Hospital is pleased to announce that it has awarded $762,000 in grant funding to 13 non-profit recipients through its Community Health Initiative, which seeks to address the island’s most pressing health issues through collaborative, innovative, and sustainable programs.

The Community Health Initiative grant funds are available through the private donations to Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s capital campaign to build the island’s new hospital. This year’s awards are the first of five grant cycles that will ultimately invest more than $4 million in community health. The hospital sought proposals in four areas: behavioral health; women’s and children’s health; access to healthcare; and access to housing.

These priorities were identified by the island community following a comprehensive process that included public forums, prioritization sessions and input from the hospital’s 2015 Community Health Needs Assessment. The resulting document, the Nantucket Community Health Improvement Plan, is better known as Healthy Nantucket 2020 and served as the roadmap for the Community Health Initiative grant process.

“I want to thank Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s generous donors for making the Community Health Initiative possible,” said Dr. Margot Hartmann, President & CEO of Nantucket Cottage Hospital. (more…)

The Hospital Thrift Shop has done it again. Continuing its 88-year tradition of generosity, the Thrift Shop announced today a $381,500 gift to Nantucket Cottage Hospital following another successful season on India Street.

The board members of the Thrift Shop presented Nantucket Cottage Hospital president and CEO Dr. Margot Hartmann with a check last week in the amount of $331,500, which has been earmarked for new medical equipment that will improve patient care in nearly every department of the hospital. Another $50,000 will be committed to the Thrift Shop’s pledge of $500,000 for the construction of the new hospital.

“We’re so pleased to once again help our community hospital fulfil its mission to patients, while also supporting its vision for the future in a new building,” said Cathy Ward, the outgoing President of the Thrift Shop’s Board of Directors. “It’s important to remember that this gift is made possible by the island community, which gives so generously to the Thrift Shop throughout the year, along with our loyal shoppers and hardworking staff and volunteers.” (more…)

Nantucket Cottage Hospital announced today on National Rural Health Day that it has been recognized by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) and The Chartis Center for Rural Health/iVantage Health Analytics for overall excellence in outcomes and patient satisfaction, reflecting top quartile performance among all rural hospitals in the nation.

“Our island community can be proud of the clinicians and staff of Nantucket Cottage Hospital who have earned this well-deserved recognition by consistently putting our patient first and providing compassionate care,” said Dr. Margot Hartmann, president and CEO of Nantucket Cottage Hospital. “The quality of our outcomes and the experience we provide our patients are two of the most important assessments of our performance as a hospital, so it is gratifying to see the efforts of our staff honored at a national level.”

Nantucket Cottage Hospital is one of only two rural hospitals in Massachusetts to be recognized by NOSORH for excellence in patient outcomes, joining Fairview Hospital in earning this distinction. Only three Massachusetts hospitals – Nantucket Cottage Hospital, Fairview Hospital, and Martha’s Vineyard Hospital – were recognized for excellence in patient satisfaction. (more…)

Nantucket Cottage Hospital and island physician Joel Hass have founded a new clinical education program that aims to expand access, provide educational opportunities, and bolster the recruitment of new clinicians to Nantucket.

The Nantucket Cottage Hospital Advanced Practice Clinician Education Program will partner with the MGH Institute of Health Professions, Department of Physician Assistant Studies, to bring physician assistant students to the island who will work under the supervision of Dr. Hass in his outpatient practice.

“Nantucket Cottage Hospital is committed to expanding access, and one way to do that is through a commitment to education,” Dr. Hass said. “We want to expose future clinicians to Nantucket and give them a sense of what it’s like to practice in a remote island setting.” (more…)

Nantucket Cottage Hospital has welcomed a new full time staff surgeon, Francis X. O’Connor, MD, to the medical staff and the NCH surgical team.

Dr. O’Connor, a former captain in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, will bring vast general surgery experience and laparoscopic surgical skills to Nantucket Cottage Hospital, and will be an important part of the team that will maximize the capabilities of an expanded surgical suite within the new hospital.

The addition of Dr. O’Connor will complement the hospital’s current full-time surgeons, including longtime island general surgeon Dr. Tim Lepore and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Rocco Monto, and allow more patients to stay on-island for emergency and elective procedures.

Dr. O’Connor, who is moving to Nantucket with his wife Maribeth and purchasing a home in the mid-island area, is a Massachusetts native who grew up in Woburn. The couple has four grown children: Kelley, Francis, Alyssa, and Ryan.  (more…)