Bar Harbor Bank and Trust Supports COVID-19 Testing Program for Island Schools

 

Bar Harbor Bank & Trust is demonstrating outstanding support for the Mount Desert Island community with a $37,400 grant to support MDI Hospital’s COVID-19 testing initiative, developed in concert with the Downeast COVID-19 Task Force. Bar Harbor Bank & Trust’s grant is targeted to benefit the Mount Desert Island Regional School System (AOS 91) as they strive to keep students, staff, and schools healthy and safe.

“MDI Hospital is grateful to Bar Harbor Bank & Trust for their continued leadership support in our community,” said Art Blank, President/CEO of MDI Hospital. “They have stepped up to help our Island schools stay on track during this pandemic, enabling a high-quality, evidence-based COVID-19 testing program.”

Initially, 500 staff members will be tested to establish a baseline and detect any existing cases. This will be followed by weekly sentinel testing of staff in pre-established cohorts. The AOS 91 tests will be conducted by MDI Hospital personnel and processed by Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) Health, an incubator for innovative start-up and testing facilities. CIC collaborates with 100+ organizations throughout the United States, conducting some 4,000 tests daily. CIC Health is a founding partner of the Assurance Testing Alliance, a collaboration of professional organizations working to streamline and lower the costs of COVID-19 testing.

“Bar Harbor Bank & Trust is passionate about supporting the communities we serve, especially MDI which has been our home for more than 130 years. Ensuring the safety of our schools has a significant positive impact to the entire community, and proactive efforts like this testing program will help limit the spread of COVID-19 throughout MDI. We are honored to help support this partnership between MDI Hospital and AOS 91 to help keep our kids, teachers, and neighbors safe.” said Curtis Simard, President and CEO of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust.

An additional grant of $40K to support the AOS 91 testing initiative has been received from the Rural Health Hospital Program for expanding testing in rural communities. Thanks to these generous donations, COVID-19 tests will be conducted from November 2020 through June 2021 at no cost to district employees, and with no impact on current school budgets. “This testing program will be used to monitor our schools for evidence of community spread of COVID-19 in concert with current mitigation strategies,” explained Marc Gousse, PhD, Superintendent of the AOS 91 Mount Desert Regional School System.

The Downeast COVID-19 Task Force was established in the early days of the pandemic to explore community-based solutions and provide a forum for discussion of ongoing challenges around COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and education. Current members include area town and chamber of commerce leaders, local legislators and leadership from MDI Hospital, Healthy Acadia, the Jackson Laboratory, Mount Desert Island Regional School System, College of the Atlantic and Acadia National Park.

About Mount Desert Island Hospital
Mount Desert Island Hospital serves the close-knit island and surrounding communities through a 25-bed critical access facility in Bar Harbor and a network of area health centers—all designed to provide comprehensive healthcare for residents and visitors.

Since it was established in 1897, the nonprofit hospital has grown into a premier rural healthcare organization with a retirement community and eight regional health centers, including a full-service behavioral health center and a dental clinic. Today, MDI Hospital employs more than 500 people and is the second-largest employer on MDI.

The mission of MDI Hospital is to provide compassionate care and strengthen the health of its community by embracing tomorrow’s methods and respecting time-honored values.

For more information and the latest updates, visit www.mdihospital.org.

Welcome to new member Downeast Scenic Railroad!

 Please join us in welcoming our new Chamber member, Downeast Scenic Railroad.

"Join us on the Downeast Scenic Railroad, the first tourist-passenger rail to grace the historic Calais Branch Line in decades, for the best day trip in Ellsworth!

"A trip on the Downeast Scenic Railroad not only takes you back to a time of elegant travel in lovingly restored rail cars but also travels through a truly beautiful part of Maine.

"From canopied forest where the light sparkles through the treetops as chickadees and nuthatches bounce from limb to limb to open marshland where beavers, herons, turtles, and moose might be seen, the restored section of the Calais Branch Line gives you a view not seen since the wealthy rusticators traveled from the cities to their summer homes on the line.

"You travel over bridges, roll past schools and houses, hear the clack of the rails muffle on the thick woodland moss, and delight in the sound of the horn at the crossing. Watch as the powerful engine moves from the front to the back of the train to take you to Washington Junction rail yard, where you can see the heavy equipment that keeps the rail running and pass train components and cars currently being restored for use on the Downeast Scenic Railroad, before coming back to the Ellsworth depot.

"On the way, be sure to look for the nests of the giant osprey and the big beaver hutches in the wetlands! Enjoy exceptional views of wetland marshes, glacial erratic including massive boulders, and river and stream crossings. While traveling and working on this stretch of the line, we have also observed many forms of wildlife, including blue herons, bald eagles, moose, deer, snapping turtles, and even bears!

"The current traveling time is roughly 90 minutes and traverses a 13-mile section of the restored railroad.

"At the core of the Downeast Scenic Railroad Project is the rehabilitation of the Washington Junction/Ellsworth to Green Lake section of the Calais Branch Line to create a 24-mile round-trip excursion ride. Other project components include the construction of storage/repair facility at Washington Junction."