By Dan Hounsell

The nation’s healthcare systems are emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, and despite financial losses and major upheavals to their processes and facilities, many are now undertaking new construction and upgrade projects to improve their services and bottom lines.

In Maine, Northern Light Health is planning or working on overhauls at half of its 10 hospitals, with recent announcements for new or updated facilities following a year during which the hospital system lost tens of millions of dollars, according to the Bangor Daily News.

After more than a year of fighting COVID-19, Northern Light is applying many of the lessons it learned during the pandemic to the building overhauls, including the need for patient privacy and expanded digital capabilities.

Construction would begin in April 2022 if approved by the board and take 10 months for Maine Coast Hospital in Ellsworth and 15-18 months for Acadia Hospital in Bangor, where the system is planning overhauls, including the addition of private patient rooms. Work at Blue Hill Hospital and C.A. Dean Hospital in Greenville, where Northern Light plans to replace the buildings, would take 18 months, along with two months to remove the old buildings.