CALAIS – There were tears in eyes and lumps in throats on Thursday as staff members at Calais Regional Hospital walked out of the 50-year-old facility for the last time and into a new $22.9 million building.

And it only took 40 minutes.

Who would have thought 88 years ago that Calais Regional Hospital would become the state-of-the-art facility it is today?

Chief Executive Officer Ray Davis officially declared the new facility open at 7 a.m. By 7:40 a.m., all patients had been moved from the old to the new.

Although a gurney race might have been more exciting, the hospital loaded each patient into a Downeast EMS ambulance and transported him or her the short distance up the hill to the new facility, where they were unloaded at the emergency room entrance.

The first patient to arrive was new mother Amy Morrison of Baileyville. Asked if her two-day old son, Benjamin, had realized he would be traveling so soon after arriving at the hospital, she laughed and said, “I don’t think so, and neither did his mom.”

Joan Perry of Calais, who works in one of the hospital’s labs, was the last patient to leave. Perry has been a patient since May. She was one of two people injured when the second-story stairs she was on in the hospital-owned apartment house where she lived collapsed under her.

And there were a number of emotional moments as staffers who had been in the same building for decades said goodbye for the last time.

Thirty-seven year veteran nurse Marina Nixon had tears in her eyes. She said that although she was looking forward to the new facility, it was a tough farewell. “I feel sad,” she said.

But other staffers were quick to start building new memories.

Kristi Saunders celebrated a birthday Wednesday at the hospital’s new outdoor patio. Saunders, who is now the hospital’s director of human resources, began her career as a switchboard operator at the hospital 37 years ago. When asked how old she is, Saunders said with a laugh, “I’m not telling you.”

Although nostalgic, she admitted it was time to leave the old facility. “I was sad until my office was empty, then I decided [it was] time to go now,” she said.

Cody Stow, who oversees the nuts and bolts of the hospital as the maintenance supervisor, said that the new hospital is more efficient.

“This building is more heat and air conditioner friendly. With that [old] building, it was hard because … there was usually a two-week time in the spring where everybody got hot and you still had cold nights and you had to keep the heat on. Then there was like two weeks in the winter where everybody was getting cold and the days were still hot,” he said.

Stow said the new facility would be much more cost efficient.

The hospital’s financial officer, Bernie McAdam, said that the hospital obtained an $18 million low interest loan from USDA Rural Development that has to be paid back. “We’re going to have to start making house payments,” he said.

DeeDee Travis, who began her career at the age of 16 as a temporary summer student at the hospital, said she too was sad.

Now, 16 years later, she is the hospital’s director of community relations. She said that although people were sentimental about the old building, they were still supportive and that the transition from old to new went very well.

Jan Wakin, director of nursing, said the new facility would enhance patient care. “It’s just phenomenal, the staff is really thrilled,” she said. “This is built to be more efficient and easier for staff [and it’s] more customer friendly.”

Wakin said the hospital had 74 registered nurses and 20 certified nurse’s assistants.

Dr. Walter Miner established the original hospital in 1918. Since 1938, CRH has provided primary and emergency health care for greater Calais.

Like most rural hospitals, utilization numbers continue to rise for outpatient, emergency and diagnostic care. As the community grew, so did the hospital. In 1956, CRH moved to new facilities on Franklin Street.

The building underwent several face-lifts in 1968, 1975 and 1978. An engineering study in the 1990s determined it would be more cost-effective to build a new facility rather than renovate the old one.

The new hospital faces Palmer Street and is near the existing hospital off South Street. It even has a new address – 24 Hospital Lane.

The 60,000-square-foot building has 30 percent more patient parking and separate waiting areas for emergency room, maternity and hospital patients.

The nonprofit Calais Regional Hospital’s service area stretches north to Topsfield, west to Wesley and south to Eastport. It serves a population of about 16,000.