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

(May 3, 2021) The Hospital Thrift Shop will open its doors on Monday, May 10th, 2021 for its 92nd season in business supporting Nantucket Cottage Hospital. The beloved island institution will allow in-person bargain hunting for the first time since 2019. Due to the pandemic, the Shop was unable to open for inside shopping in 2020 and instead created a new e-commerce shopping website and hosted several outdoor sales.

“We’re so excited to welcome shoppers back into 17 India Street,” said Mary Casey, Executive Director of the Hospital Thrift Shop. “We are chock full of merchandise – clothes, books, housewares, you name it! We are bursting at the seams and we can’t wait to get back to ‘business as normal.’”

For up-to-date shopping and donation hours, please visit hospitalthriftshop.org

The Thrift Shop was founded in 1929 when a group of dedicated volunteers came together to provide affordable clothes and household goods to the island community. Its first gift to the hospital that year was $603. Since that first donation, the Thrift Shop has contributed more than $5 million to the hospital during its 91 years of operation, a legacy of generosity that has benefited NCH in many ways, from new radiology and lab equipment, to a remodeled dialysis unit and new furnishings for patient rooms.

The Hospital Thrift Shop is always in need of new volunteers. Anyone interested in helping carry on this wonderful island tradition should e-mail hospitalthriftshop@gmail.com

(March 25, 2021) In collaboration with longtime island pharmacist Allan Bell, Nantucket Cottage Hospital will be opening a new community pharmacy on Vesper Lane, just across the street from the hospital, to provide patients with greater convenience and continuity of care while sustaining an important community resource.

The new pharmacy will be located at what was known as the hospital’s Founders Building at 10 Vesper Lane and will be owned and operated by Nantucket Cottage Hospital. It will be open to anyone needing prescription pharmaceuticals. Concurrently, Bell intends to close the prescription department of his existing Island Pharmacy business on Pleasant Street, while continuing to fill prescriptions at his Nantucket Pharmacy operation on Main Street.

The new venture began when Bell approached the hospital last year regarding a potential relationship. While he had been pursued by numerous chains and other off-island interests over the years regarding his pharmacy operations, Bell chose to reach out to NCH because of its deep roots on Nantucket and understanding of the needs of island patients. Allan Bell said, “I have been caring for Islanders’ prescription needs for over 43 years and am so grateful to the Nantucket community for this time. I am excited to see the prescription department moving to the NCH campus. There will be continuity, as I begin to step away from Island Pharmacy after 32 years. I thank all of those at NCH and MGB that helped put this partnership together and allowing me to continue serving the community at Nantucket Pharmacy.”

For patients, the new pharmacy will provide one-stop-shopping for their medical visits, allowing them to leave the hospital campus following an appointment with prescribed medications in hand. Prices will be in line with those at other retail pharmacies, and patients should expect to see no change in their share of financial responsibility for medications based on their insurance coverage. At the outset, the new pharmacy will offer prescription drugs only, but its offerings and services could grow over time. Gary A. Shaw, President and CEO of Nantucket Cottage Hospital said, “We at NCH appreciate Allan bringing us this opportunity to ensure that his and our patients can continue to get their prescriptions filled at a convenient mid-island location close to the hospital.”