Nantucket Cottage Hospital is mourning the loss of longtime island resident Roy Flanders, who passed away this week.

Roy was a patient and friend of the hospital who in 2012 announced an incredible $250,000 matching challenge grant to NCH to inspire the island community to support its hospital.

“I tried to whittle it down to five words: Imagine Nantucket without our hospital. Can you imagine?” Roy asked on the front page of The Inquirer and Mirror in December 2012. “The thing is, I’ve been there so many times, especially in the last year with some health issues. I hope to encourage as many people to help out.”

Roy’s gift was a game-changer for the Nantucket Cottage Hospital annual appeal. It nearly doubled the contributions compared to the previous year, and raised the annual charitable giving to the hospital to a new level that has been sustained in the years since he issued his challenge.

It is a legacy that will continue to benefit Nantucket Cottage Hospital and island patients well into the future.

Above: Nantucket artist Kerry Hallam created this portrait of Roy Flanders as a tribute to his gift to the hospital. It still hangs prominently in the main lobby of NCH.