In April 2015, Jeannie Critchley was coming to the end of another school year and looking ahead to summer on Nantucket. But Critchley, who has been a teacher at Nantucket Elementary School for nearly 30 years, was about to receive some health news that would change her life.

After a routine mammogram at Nantucket Cottage Hospital and follow-up tests, Critchley was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. After the initial shock and deluge of information about her condition, Critchley and her physicians agreed on a plan that included two surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation.

It was daunting to say the least. “The fear factor, the worry, and wondering what will this be like, it was pretty intense,” Critchley said. “I had ideas in my head from TV and movies about what it would be like, and it was really intimidating and scary.” After a gauntlet of surgery and radiation over the following year, Critchley was relieved to discover that she could do her chemotherapy and many of her oncology consults right here on the island thanks to Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s partnership with the Mass General Cancer Center.

“I had been thinking about the travel, the time, and the physical toll it takes to go back and forth with the boat ride and traffic and the whole thing,” she said. “So that was the best piece of information, that I would be able to do my treatment here.” (more…)

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

6 P.M. (doors open at 5:30 P.M.)

FREE and open to all

Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street

Join the Nantucket Historical Association and Nantucket Cottage Hospital (NCH) for the first program in a series of events that will celebrate the 105-year history of the Nantucket Cottage Hospital. On June 27, some of the NCH’s longtime nurses, both current staff members and retirees, will come together for a night of stories to share some of the heartwarming, hilarious, and eccentric tales of nursing on an island thirty miles out to sea. (more…)

Focusing on Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s campaign to build a new hospital, Milestones magazine is designed to provide an update on the project and celebrate the donors and volunteers who are making this historic initiative a reality. Published in June 2017, our fourth issue highlights Wendy and Eric Schmidt’s $5 million donation, plus we give readers a glimpse into what’s happened on the campus over the winter. Read the complete digital edition by clicking below:

Wendy and Eric Schmidt Pledge $5 Million to New Hospital

Sustaining and strengthening the Nantucket community to empower the future of the island is one of Wendy Schmidt’s many passions.

She and her husband, Eric, are engaged in philanthropy that encompasses issues as global as ocean health and renewable energy technologies, while also having an impact on a local level. Schmidt’s support for education, transportation, and community gathering places in downtown Nantucket includes a bookstore, bakery, culinary center, music center and community school and The Dreamland Theater. Wendy Schmidt’s team at ReMain Nantucket has worked since 2008 to foster ideas, investments and new initiatives that enhance the vitality of the island.

The Schmidts’ commitment to the island was further manifested with a $5 million pledge to Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s capital campaign for the new hospital.

“We’re talking about Nantucket’s one and only hospital,” Wendy Schmidt said. “The one that has had to serve generations of islanders and visitors as the cost of healthcare soared and as technology advanced rapidly, without many options for keeping up with the demand and remaining current. The need for a good solution for providing ongoing high level health care on the island has never been greater than it is now.”  (more…)

The capital campaign for Nantucket’s new hospital has received support from all corners of the island, including individuals, families, businesses, and our fellow non-profit organizations.
One major sector of Nantucket’s economy that stepped-up in a big way to support this historic initiative was the island’s real estate community.

In June 2016, former Nantucket Cottage Hospital Trustee and philanthropist Maureen Hackett issued a challenge to the island’s brokers, agents, and other members of the real estate sector. Hackett, who together with her family had already contributed a $6 million gift to the campaign, urged them to join her in supporting the effort. She emphasized that a new, first-class community hospital would not only benefit the health and wellbeing of Nantucket, but also directly impact the real estate industry as quality medical services are a major consideration for anyone interested in investing in a new home on the island.

“We all depend on this hospital. It is the safety net that takes care of us and makes life on this remote island possible,” Maureen Hackett said to the members of the real estate community who gathered during an event at The Dreamland Theater last June. “You are a key to our success, and this is an opportunity for you to give back. This island has given us all so much.” (more…)