BANGOR – Eastern Maine Medical Center honored a Maine health care and business pioneer, the late Irving Kagan, by dedicating the outpatient surgery center building to his memory as the Irving Kagan Building on June 6.

EMMC and Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems acknowledged Kagan’s 21 years of stewardship to EMMC and EMHS.

Officials called Kagan a family man, a man of integrity and a man with keen vision who conducted business with honor, never losing sight of the trust patients place in EMMC. For a number of years, he sat on both the EMMC and EMHS boards of directors, using compassion and leadership to guide the development of EMMC and EMHS into a regional health care system.

Kagan died in December, but his legacy lives on in EMMC’s pledge to provide only the best of care, officials said. He worked continually to raise the standards of patient care while making sure governance was held accountable to the highest structural and ethical standards.

“For decades, Irving Kagan has given of his time and talent to Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems with the conviction that a community, and truly a region of communities, is only as strong as its ability to care for its most vulnerable – its sick and injured, its children and its elderly,” said EMMC President and CEO, nurse Deborah Carey Johnson.

“With gratitude, Eastern Maine Medical Center honors Irving Kagan’s memory by dedicating the outpatient surgery building in his name,” she said.

The ceremony to dedicate the EMMC outpatient surgery center in Kagan’s memory was held at the Level Two reception area of Vascular Care of Maine and Cardiac Wellness of Maine.

Guest speakers included keynote speaker Norman Ledwin, past president and CEO of EMHS; Dr. Jacob A. Palmer III, chairman of the board of directors of EMHS; George Eaton, chairman of the board of trustees of Eastern Maine Medical Center; EMHS president and CEO Michelle Hood; and representatives from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s office, and U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud’s office.