On July 8, 2017, as we were celebrating our son’s 3rd birthday, a freak accident resulted in head trauma and left him non-responsive with his eyes rolled back in his head. Due to our proximity to the hospital, we decided not to wait for 911 to come to us and we got to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital emergency department before its staff could be notified of our arrival.

With no warning we burst in with an undoubtedly overwhelming situation and put our son’s life and family’s future in the hands of strangers. The flurry of activity that surrounded our son was terrifying at the time, but we can now look back on it in a different light.

The professionalism and expert care that he received is something the Nantucket Cottage Hospital staff should be extremely proud of. Not only was the medical care our son received critical to saving his life, but the kindness and support we received as parents was incredible. Beyond that care and comfort, the NCH staff was also exemplary in communicating and coordinating the complex logistics of a transfer by Coast Guard helicopter to Boston Children’s Hospital for emergency brain surgery.

Explaining to us what was going on, handling and explaining the dynamic travel situation to us, and just the overall focus of everyone on protecting my family is something we greatly appreciate. It took two ambulance rides and a Coast Guard helicopter to get our son, myself and my wife, who was eight-months pregnant, to Boston Children’s Hospital, where our son would need lifesaving surgery to relieve the swelling on his brain. We are extremely grateful to Nantucket firefighters Jeff Allen, Chris Holland and Scott Holmes for the safe transport to the waiting Coast Guard helicopter at Nantucket Memorial Airport. With serious thunderstorms throughout the area, Lt. Bill Burwell, Lt. Steven Podmore, AET3 Dan Cote and Petty Officer First Class Justin Munk came to our rescue and got us safely to Boston when we had no other options. The call these men answered that day leaves us forever grateful.

During this ordeal we watched Nantucket Cottage Hospital nurses Courtney Bucholz, Dani Brunelle and (CRNA) Peter Duquette work tirelessly to keep my son stable. We will never forget watching Courtney literally breathing the life into him and Dani’s intense focus on his vitals and well-being. As we were told by our son’s neurosurgeon in Boston, it was the immediate actions by the Nantucket Cottage Hospital emergency department team that were critical in saving his life and amazingly avoiding any long-term brain damage.

To the incredible staff at Boston Children’s and the entire trauma, ICU and neurology teams that helped us and kept us informed during this terrifying time, we cannot thank you enough for your hard work, especially Dr. Scellig Stone and his entire neurology team for their lifesaving effort. Boston Children’s Hospital is an amazing place filled with amazing people that I hope to never visit again, but am more than lucky to know that it is there.

To use the word lifesaving is not solely referring to the life of my son, but the lives of myself, wife, daughter and entire extended family. The tragedy that these people helped us avoid that day is something that is hard to think about, and has even more so enforced the ideal of how special every day with the people you care about is. We would like to thank everyone who helped us that day for every decision they made in their lives that led them to cross our path that day.

We are forever grateful and know that every smile, laugh and special moment from here on is due to the efforts of the many people who worked together to care for our son on that day.

– Ryan and Cara Scotto

OPEN HOUSE: Saturday, January 5, 2019 | 12:00 noon – 2:00 p.m. | 57 Prospect Street, Nantucket

Nantucket Cottage Hospital is preparing to open the doors of our new hospital following the largest community fundraising campaign in island history. We want to offer you a sneak peek of the new hospital before it opens for patient care to see the incredible results of this effort.

Please park in the new Emergency Department parking area off Prospect Street. Once full, please utilize the main hospital parking lot. You will be directed to the appropriate entrance for the new hospital. Light refreshments will be served.

Every year, the Nantucket Cottage Hospital Foundation publishes its annual Report to Our Donors to celebrate, highlight, and thank our donors and volunteers. This report is filled with the names of people who recognize that life as we know it on Nantucket wouldn’t be the same without a hospital that meets the needs of a thriving year-round community. It’s one of the ways we acknowledge the hundreds of men, women and children who generously share with us their talents and treasures as volunteers, donors and staff. Read the full report.

National Volunteer Week is celebrated April 15 – 22nd and Nantucket Cottage Hospital is proud to celebrate our Blue Coat team, who volunteered a total of 2,594 hours in 2017!

• Over 400 Hours: Ed Benedict (413)
• Over 200 Hours: Toby Greenberg (248), Peter Richards (224)
• Over 150 Hours: Priscilla Saperstein (176), Banc Winsor (163)
• Over 100 Hours: Duncan Will (146), Paul Clarke (134.5), Randy Wight (132), Nick Miller (111), Pat Flemming (108), Donna Davis (104), Maryanne Haigley (104)
• Over 60 Hours: Kevin Dugan (69), Terry McGovern (63)
• Over 50 Hours: Virginia Carrey (55), Patsy Ernst (53), Mary Zibelli (50)
• Over 30 Hours: Deborah Beale (37)
• Over 20 Hours: Joan Badie (28), Patty Keneally (28), Dorothy Verney (28), Tanya Thairatana (27), Marcia Anderson (25), Lily Jimenez (25), Susan Greenberg (20)
• Up to 20 Hours: Kate Smith (18), Judith Weinstein (18), Tansheka Edwards (12), Robert Ford (8)

The British Invasion will land at Jetties Beach on Nantucket this summer when RAIN: A Tribute to The Beatles joins the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra as the special musical guest for the 22^nd annual Boston Pops on Nantucket concert to benefit Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

RAIN performs the full range of The Beatles’ discography including the most complex and challenging songs that The Beatles recorded in studio but never performed for an audience. Now together longer than the legendary foursome, RAIN has mastered every song, gesture, and nuance of The Beatles, delivering a note-for-note performance that’s as infectious as it is transporting.

For more than 20 years, the Boston Pops on Nantucket has been the largest and most popular summer event on the island, attracting thousands to Jetties Beach for a night of spectacular entertainment all to raise critical funds for Nantucket Cottage Hospital. Paired with RAIN, conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra will deliver another memorable edition of the concert, which is set for Aug. 11^th, 2018. This year’s event chairs are Sarah and Jeff Newton, longtime summer residents of Nantucket who maintain their primary residence in Concord, MA.

“We are thrilled to be chairing the 22^nd annual concert,” said Sarah. “For us, the Pops is the highlight of every summer, and we are working with a terrific group of volunteers and committee members to create another successful fund raising event for our cherished hospital.” (more…)