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…)

Nantucket Cottage Hospital is inviting Nantucket residents to submit applications for its 2017 Beinecke Scholarship Fund. This special fund, created by the late Nantucket businessman and civic leader Walter Beinecke, Jr., is intended to further the education and training of island residents in medical and health care fields by helping to finance their studies. The scholarship fund is open to graduates of Nantucket High School, employees of Nantucket Cottage Hospital and any other island resident who can satisfy the guidelines and requirements. (more…)

Nantucket High School students enrolled in the new “Intro to Nursing and Allied Health” class visited Nantucket Cottage Hospital‘s laboratory this week. The class is being taught by one of our own nurses, Jessica Douglas. The students tested samples of items at the school such as a hall pass, a bathroom door, and their cellphones, for bacteria. The students also learned the basics of taking a blood sample from a patient. Thanks for the visit and keep learning!