Hospital dedicates wing to benefactor

BELFAST – The new wing at Waldo County General Hospital was dedicated Friday to the memory of Beatrice “Betty” Ludwig, who contributed the lead gift to the hospital’s $12 million expansion.

Ludwig’s husband, Robert, and members of the family were present when the hospital unveiled a plaque in her honor Friday morning.

Mark Biscone, executive director of the hospital, heralded Ludwig as a woman who “gave her time and financial resources unselfishly to those in need.”

Biscone noted that when the hospital began its campaign two years ago with the goal of raising the $3 million local share of the expansion, a substantial donation from Ludwig made it possible for the hospital to reach its goal.

Beatrice M. Ludwig lived in Stockton Springs and was a member of the community church there. She served as treasurer, deacon, trustee and Ladies Aid member. She also served the town as a ballot clerk and was an incorporator of Waldo General. As a philanthropist, she supported the church and town office and was instrumental in establishing the Stockton Springs Regional Health Center, Biscone said.

“Area residents remember Betty as a humble person who was very giving of herself to her children and grandchildren and who was a rolemodel in the community,” Biscone said. “She was always willing to share her good fortune. … I am extremely proud to formally dedicate our new ambulatory services building to her memory.”

The hospital broke ground on the $12 million expansion project in the fall of 1998. The ambulatory services building represents approximately four-fifths of the project’s 50,000 square feet of new and renovated hospital space.

“This is the centerpiece of the construction program,” Biscone told the gathering. “We now move on to the renovation phase and hope to cut the ribbon in eight months.”

The new two-story wing donated in Ludwig’s memory contains the hospital’s renal dialysis, cardio-pulmonary, sleep lab, laboratory, speech and language pathology, classrooms, rehabilitation, fiscal and information services and physician offices.

The remainder of the renovation program will focus on converting semiprivate rooms to private rooms suitable for the latest diagnostic and monitoring equipment. Waiting rooms will be added for the X-ray department, and the emergency room and maternity unit will be expanded.

The entire project is expected to be completed by next summer, the hospital’s 100th anniversary. It represents the first time in 16 years that the hospital has undergone a major expansion. At that time, the hospital had seven physicians on staff. Biscone said the hospital now boasts a staff of more than 40 physicians under the direction of Dr. Thomas Maycock, president of the medical staff.

Despite the changes and growing constraints on rural health care services, Waldo General has consistently managed to operate in the black. During the fiscal year that ended on June 30, the hospital reported gross operating revenues of $44 million, with a favorable balance after expenses of $3 million.

The plaque honoring Ludwig reads: “This building is dedicated in memory of Beatrice ‘Betty’ Ludwig of Stockton Springs for her outstanding generosity and community service to ensure quality health care for patients and their families in Waldo County.”