TAMC turns 100
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
AN ESTIMATED 1,700 PEOPLE helped The Aroostook Medical Center celebrate its 100th anniversary Saturday, which was proclaimed TAMC Day in Maine by Gov. Paul LePage. Festivities included a parade, live musical entertainment, children’s games, horse-drawn wagon rides and a community barbecue.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
PRESQUE ISLE — The Aroostook Medical Center celebrated its 100th anniversary Saturday with a birthday bash like no other.
Preceding the event, which included live musical entertainment, children’s games, horse-drawn wagon rides and a community barbecue, was a 1-mile parade marking the hospital’s centennial milestone.
The parade featured 50 entries, and despite a brief shower or two, was enjoyed by hundreds lined along the parade route which went down Second Street to Church Street, onto Main Street and through downtown Presque Isle and then turning onto Academy Street up to TAMC’s A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital.
Following the parade, community members congregated in the hospital parking lot where they enjoyed a huge barbecue that was served by TAMC employees.
Staff served 1,500 meals which included of 1,300 hot dogs, 1,000 pieces of chicken, 1,100 hamburgers, 180 pounds of potato salad and 150 pounds of macaroni salad.
“We’re very excited that there’s such a turnout to help us mark this special occasion. It’s not often you have a 100-year anniversary,” said Tom Umphrey, TAMC’s vice president of employee services and human resources, as he was scooping potato salad to guests. “Looking back, it’s been an impressive history of growth and development.
“I came in 1978 when it was Gould Hospital and about two years later we consolidated with Aroostook Health Center in Mars Hill to become The Aroostook Medical Center. One short year after that we merged with Community General Hospital in Fort Fairfield,” he said. “We were approached by the towns to help establish a regional ambulance service (Crown Ambulance Service) and we started the County Dialysis Center with the help of Eastern Maine Healthcare. We expanded our radiology area and added cardiac services, and for a rural area like this to have this array of services is quite an achievement that we’re particularly proud of.”
Umphrey said the hospital’s goal is to continue to meet the changing health care needs of the community.
“We expect that there will be challenges ahead,” he said, “but I think we’ve got a good group of people to meet those challenges.”
According to Jason Parent, director of advancement, TAMC Day was a huge success by all accounts.
“The parade had 50 entries, including several of our own TAMC family-led entries, and we served an estimated 1,500-plus delicious meals and welcomed over 1,700 TAMC family and community members on Saturday,” he said. “There were over a dozen booths around the grounds staffed by over 75 TAMC team members.
“In addition to the large numbers of community members that came to show their support and attend the event, a dozen businesses and community organizations donated more than $6,200 in sponsorship money and in-kind contributions to help ensure a most successful event,” said Parent.
TAMC Day parade award recipients included Del Hastey Earlier Period Tractor Trailer Truck (Best Motorized Entry), Presque Isle Middle School Band (Best Musical Entry), TAMC Financial Services/Patient Accounting/Central Registration (Best TAMC Entry), Wintergreen Arts Center (Best Community Entry) and TAMC Innovation and Education (Most Creative Overall Entry).
