June 7, 2023 – Nantucket Cottage Hospital is pleased to award 38 Beinecke Scholarships totaling $50,000 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 and residents further their education.

The eligibility of applicants and scholarship recipients are considered by an independent ad hoc committee consisting of leaders from Nantucket Cottage Hospital and the community at large.

Beinecke, the man who founded Sherburne Associates, and is credited with transforming Nantucket into a modern destination resort town, 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 2023 Beinecke Scholarship recipients are:

• Christian Ashelford
• Melanie Bamber
• Ciara Barnett
• Tianna Barrett
• K’sha Bloise
• Juilana Bouchard
• Brooke Campbell
• Cole Campbell
• Isabella Cutone
• Kate Daniels
• Emma Davis
• Sabin Dhamala
• Emily Dussault
• Edwin Alexis Mancia Castro
• Leticia Duval Camilo
• Candace Ferguson
• Heather Francis
• Pamela Gardner
• Sophie Gerardi
• Madison Iller
• Ioana Kalpazanova
• Diane Sophia King
• Caroline Knutti
• Tatiana Quijada Lemus
• Adriana Lopez
• Robin Manning
• Maria Silva Marchi
• Sara Marshall
• Sue Mynttinen
• Adisson Masiel Pineda Perez
• Andrea Planzer
• Stephanie Ryder
• Kyan Samuels-Roberts
• Teresa Erin Schrader
• Nathalia Elizabeth Tobar Tejada
• Ruth Tonico
• Chevelle Williams
• Adele Yelverton

(April 6, 2023) Nantucket Cottage Hospital is adding Urology to the list of specialty services it offers on-island. NCH has partnered with the Mass General Physician Organization and the MGH Department of Urology to bring the services of Dr. Michael C. Lee to Nantucket. Dr. Lee is certified by the American Board of Urology and is a Clinical Instructor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Lee will be joined in the NCH practice by Sonal Patel, a Urology Nurse Practitioner at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“It is always very satisfying for us when we can tap into our Mass General Brigham network to bring a physician of Dr. Lee’s reputation and caliber to Nantucket,” said Dr. Barbara Malone, Chief Medical Officer at Nantucket Cottage Hospital, “Filling this gap in on-island care has been among our highest priorities.”

Video conference appointments for Urology will begin this spring and in-person appointments and office-based procedures will begin at Nantucket Cottage Hospital over the summer. Appointments will be available by referral from patients’ primary care provider.

NCH is pleased to bring back our ACKs of LOVE initiative from February 14 through February 28, 2023 celebrating NCH staff with discounts and giveaways at local businesses. Thanks to the generosity of the NCH Board of Trustees, staff can take advantage of the following perks by showing a hospital-issued ID.

January 12, 2023 – Nantucket Cottage Hospital is proud to announce our DAISY Award recipient, Lisa Lacoursiere, RN, who was surprised yesterday with the honor in front of her nursing peers.

The DAISY Foundation award recognizes nurses who provide extraordinarily compassionate care to their patients. Lisa was nominated by one of her infusion patients who wrote, “cancer treatment can be an unnerving and scary experience. From the moment I met Lisa I felt that I was in good hands and would be well taken care of. Lisa uses a no-nonsense approach to care. She is friendly but never retreats from her professional role. She can joke and laugh at appropriate times and is an expert at getting important information across. She explains everything and checks to make sure that she is understood. In addition to being a consummate professional, she is personable, thoughtful, and considerate.”

Congratulations to the other nominees at Nantucket Cottage Hospital: Shawne Broderick, RN, Suzanne Carroll, RN, Meghan Corcoran, RN, Sophie Civitarese, RN, Jan Ellsworth, RN, Molly Harding, NP, Erin Higgins-Coulter, RN, Pam James, RN, Charlotte Kassel, RN, Rose Klein, RN, Maria Papale, RN, Melissa Prince, RN and Ruth Tonico, RN.

To submit a nomination for a nurse who treated you or a family member with kindness and compassion, visit here.

In July 2022, Eliza Miller took to Instagram with a post that brought huge relief to family and friends. After four terrifying days, her four-year-old daughter, Emme, was home from Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

Eliza wrote: “Emme was having a hard time breathing suddenly. She had gone limp in Pat’s arms. We rushed her to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital ER and they immediately took action to get her oxygen, tests galore, hydration, and so much more. The excellent team at the hospital tried to Med Flight her via helicopter to Boston Children’s but with bad weather on the horizon, they told us it just wasn’t possible. They even attempted to send a Coast Guard plane and even that wasn’t possible. The downside to this beautiful island.

Over the course of three days, Emme improved, thanks to the team of amazing doctors, nurses, aids and more at the @ackhospital. I’ve never been so impressed.

They were on top of my little Emme, and we were able to stay together as a family during such a scary time. We feel so lucky for everyone on-island who helped us get through those four days.”

In a follow up email, Eliza continued to praise the NCH staff: “Our nurse for the first day, Jamie, I still remember was SO positive. She was a mom too and I could tell that she understood what I was going through, she did everything in her power to not only keep Emme comfortable and explain things that could be tough for a four-year-old to understand. She also kept me comfortable by explaining what she was doing the entire time. When we found out it was impossible for Emme to be transported off the island, the entire staff assured us they could keep her stable so that she would be OK until the weather passed. Ultimately, from the care she received at NCH, Emme was discharged and was able to finish her summer on Nantucket. It was a lot of emotion and stress, but the hospital staff was SO kind, so patient, so reassuring. Nantucket Cottage Hospital really saved Emme’s life with compassion and love and kindness. I will forever hold NCH in my heart. Emme’s too!”

“Please support the critical work of Nantucket Cottage Hospital with a donation to The NCH Fund.”
– Eliza and Pat Miller