PORTLAND, Maine - Officials in Portland, Maine, have approved the final phase of a proposed $525 million hospital expansion project. The Portland Planning Board on Monday unanimously approved Maine Medical Center's plan for a 265,000-square-foot building that will be built at the current location of a parking garage.
Administrators say the building will include private patient rooms and cardiovascular rooms, and it will have a main entrance that will make it easier for visitors to access the complex.
Maine Medical Center Executive Vice President Jeff Sanders says the Planning Board decision marks a "very important milestone'' for the hospital and community.
The hospital must complete work on a new staff garage before work on the third phase can start. The hospital expects to finish the building in 2022.