Northern Light Mercy Hospital is a not-for-profit community hospital in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. It was founded in 1918 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

to provide excellent healthcare, especially to the poor and disadvantaged. Mercy is located on a 42-acre campus overlooking the Fore River.

History

Northern Light Mercy Hospital opened as "Queen's Hospital" on the corner of State Street and Congress Street in response to the

1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, H1N1 subtype of the influenz ...

after city hospitals refused Irish Catholic patients during that pandemic. It had 25 beds. In 1941, as the United States stood on the brink of entering another world war, the growing city of Portland needed greater hospital capacity. To meet this need, the Sisters of Mercy arranged for the purchase of property at 144 State Street. That same year, the Sisters received additional control from the Diocese of Portland over the management of Queen's. To reflect the transition, Queen's Hospital became Mercy Hospital. In 1943, the new hospital location opened with 150 beds and 36 bassinets. The old Queen's Hospital buildings were kept for housing and classrooms for the 140 students then enrolled in the School of Nursing. The hospital expanded in 1952 and was significantly renovated in the 1980s. In 2006, Mercy began construction on its new campus along the Fore River with the plan to eventually consolidate the two campuses into one larger hospital. In September 2008, Mercy opened their new hospital at the Fore River campus. Until the campuses can be consolidated, Mercy would maintain two hospitals in

. In 2013, Mercy Hospital was acquired by Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems (EMHS) of

Brewer, Maine Brewer is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is part of the Bangor metropolitan area. The city is named after its first settler, Colonel John Brewer. The population was 9,672 at the 2020 census. Brewer is the sister city ...

. In 2018, EMHS rebranded as

Northern Light Health Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

and Mercy Hospital began doing business as Northern Light Mercy Hospital. In January 2022, Northern Light Mercy Hospital permanently closed their State Street hospital location once they opened the new emergency room at their Fore River campus. This marked the final step in their campus consolidation efforts.

References

Hospital buildings completed in 1918 Hospitals established in 1918 Catholic hospitals in the United States Hospitals in Portland, Maine West End (Portland, Maine) Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland {{Maine-hospital-stub