Recognizing that providing compassionate care is a key hospital goal, Nantucket Cottage Hospital established an  annual prize honoring a staff member for extraordinarily compassionate care.

The Seinfeld/Hartmann Prize for Compassionate Medical Care will pay lasting tribute to a physician, nurse or any other hospital staff member who throughout his or her professional career demonstrates an outstanding level of compassion and care in their role at NCH.

The Seinfeld/Hartmann Prize for Compassionate Medical Care, a cash award, will be given each year at the NCH Annual Meeting in August, and the winner will be announced to the hospital and the island community at-large.

Nominations can be initiated by any patient or staff member who witnessed an act of compassion by an NCH employee. Learn more and nominate a caregiver by clicking here or call 508-825-8250. Nominations are due by July 31, 2020.

(May 11, 2020) Today was supposed to be Opening Day 2020 at the Hospital Thrift Shop, but there is no line on India Street today! It’s a sad day and we are missing the opening day tradition and seeing all of you. A special shoutout to all our loyal volunteers, shoppers, and donors. Although Opening Day 2020 had to be postponed, stay tuned for updates. After 90 years in business, the Hospital Thrift Shop will adapt and will continue to serve the Nantucket community moving forward. With your patience and support, we are looking forward to our 91st year in business. Keep up-to-date with the Thrift Shop by visiting HospitalThriftShop.org

(April 22, 2020) The Boston Pops on Nantucket is a beloved tradition for the island community that brings so many people together and is a critical source of support for Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

After careful consideration and with public health as our top priority, Nantucket Cottage Hospital has made the decision that we will not be able to gather on Jetties Beach for the 2020 Boston Pops on Nantucket as originally planned this August due to the precautions like physical distancing that are imperative to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

So while we already know this year will not look like the Pops concerts of years past, it’s important that we don’t give up on this wonderful event. Extraordinary times offer us an extraordinary opportunity to celebrate the heart of Nantucket.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital will reimagine the Boston Pops on Nantucket in 2020 and deliver a special experience that celebrates the hospital, our brave healthcare workers, first responders, and essential workers across the island. The event will still bring our community and the hospital’s steadfast supporters together virtually, in way that complies with the best practices we have learned for keeping our island healthy.

“In keeping with the tradition of the Boston Pops on Nantucket, our objective for this year’s reimagined event is to make the evening accessible and fun for all islanders in appreciation for the caring and concern the whole community demonstrated in protecting and helping our neighbors,” said Courtney O’Neill, Vice President of Community Relations and Development at Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital will share these plans with the community as soon as possible, and will provide further details as we secure commitments from the talent that will be involved and structure a truly enjoyable experience for all islanders.

More than ever, the hospital needs to rally the support of the community to help fund its operations, so we are asking our supporters to continue their generous commitments and to consider participating as sponsors of this reimagined special event. The funds raised will allow us to continue to respond to this unparalleled challenge in the most effective way possible, and help our hospital emerge with the financial foundation and professional staffing capability we need to continue to provide excellent care for all.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital is not only an integral part of the island community, but it is an equally integral part of our family as well. As a family of six, we have frequented the ER for stitches, fevers and other mishaps that accompany a family with four boys, always receiving attentive and comprehensive care. But the hospital hasn’t just been there for our family during tragic events or unfortunate circumstances. It has served as the “home away from home” where we gave birth and welcomed three of our four children into the world, most recently our son Charles on January 10, 2020. It is these life changing moments for which we feel forever connected and grateful to our community hospital.

While nothing can fully prepare a family for the life changing experience that bringing a new baby into the world will be, the process can be a positive one or not. Our experience, most recently, was nothing short of perfect.

We had a pretty good idea of what to expect, this being our third child in three years. What we could not have planned for however, was the tremendous care our family received by the nursing staff and just how much they would contribute to our overall experience.

We arrived on a Friday morning and were warmly welcomed. It felt as though the whole nursing staff was anticipating our arrival, ready and eager to get the process started. How grateful we were to have such individualized attention, knowing that is not the norm in most all other hospitals. They embraced our desire for a holistic, natural birth. Whether through maintaining the set environment through dimmed lighting and quiet music, or providing birthing balls at various stages or encouraging walking the halls and trying new laboring positions. They respected our wishes the entire way.

– Kathleen and Isaiah Stover with their kids Gabe, J.J., Xander and Finn

Experienced hospital CEO, former U.S. Navy Lt. Commander to Lead Island’s Largest Private Employer

(December 6, 2019) The Nantucket Cottage Hospital Board of Trustees has named Gary Shaw President and Chief Executive Officer of Nantucket Cottage Hospital following a nationwide search. Shaw brings more than two decades of experience leading hospitals and healthcare organizations from Delaware to Alaska, as well as 20 years of service in the U.S. Navy’s Medical Service Corps, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He will join Nantucket Cottage Hospital in his new role on Monday, Dec. 9th.

“Gary is the right person to lead Nantucket Cottage Hospital into this new era with the island’s new healthcare facility, and every member of the search committee and the Board feels confident that his experience and skillset are well-matched to meet the challenges of our remote island hospital,” said Kevin Hickey, President of the NCH Board of Trustees. “Gary’s leadership style and track record of accomplishments, both in the Navy and as a healthcare executive, stood out to us during the search process and we look forward to introducing him to NCH staff and the island community.”

Shaw most recently served as President of Cambridge Medical Center in Minnesota, an 86-bed facility that is part of the Allina Health not-for-profit healthcare system. At Cambridge Medical Center, he was responsible for a number of systemwide improvement initiatives in quality and patient care and led the development of a new $9 million outpatient clinic. Prior to that, Shaw was the hospital administrator of the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska, a 158-bed regional referral center and teaching hospital for the Alaska Native and American Indian populations.

“My wife Trisha and I are very excited to be returning to our New England roots, joining the Nantucket community, and I couldn’t be more pleased to be invited to work with the wide array of highly skilled team members at the Nantucket Cottage Hospital. I am truly humbled.”

Shaw enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1977, progressing from Hospital Corpsman to Lieutenant Commander of the Navy’s Medical Service Corps over the span of two decades. He served during four wars and his last overseas assignment was as a Navy Environmental health advisor (Public Health) to the United Nations during the Bosnian war.

Shaw and his wife Trisha have two grown children. The Shaws will relocate from Minnesota to Nantucket in the coming months.

“Gary’s experience in healthcare organizations that serve remote and rural areas and being an active member of those communities is one of his many attributes that we believe will benefit Nantucket Cottage Hospital and the island,” said Jack Burke, Vice President of the NCH Board of Trustees and the chair of the hospital search committee. “Of the many potential candidates we interviewed during this search process, Gary was the clear, unanimous choice of the committee given his background, leadership qualities and extensive accomplishments as a healthcare executive.”

Shaw succeeds Dr. Margot Hartmann, who had served as Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s President and CEO since 2010 and stepped down from that role in September 2019. Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, DNP, has served the hospital as interim President and CEO since Dr. Hartmann’s departure, and will continue to assist NCH in a consulting role.

A graduate of Southern Illinois University, Shaw received a Bachelor of Science degree in Healthcare/Business Administration, followed by a Master of Science degree in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville. He holds an Executive Professional Coaching Certificate from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, MN, and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.