MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

On behalf of the Nantucket Cottage Hospital (NCH) Board of Trustees I would like to express our sincere gratitude to our 2022 donors for your continuing generosity, commitment and support of the mission of NCH in preserving and enhancing the wellness of the Nantucket Community. Because of your generosity, NCH is able to provide world-class care to the entire community.

In addition, we would like to express our appreciation and gratitude to all of the NCH employees, volunteers and community partners that provide the high-quality and safe patient care and range of services to our entire community throughout the year for their dedication and tireless service.

The NCH Board of Trustees is a diverse group of yearround and seasonal residents of Nantucket with a wide range of experience and expertise in the community and the healthcare industry. The role of the Board is to serve as the governing body for NCH with the fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the hospital has a vision and a mission that is right for Nantucket and that it executes on that vision and mission both today and sustainably for the future.

As the primary provider of healthcare in a geographically isolated community, NCH is faced with a wide range of unique opportunities and challenges both today and tomorrow. We all know that the quality of life we enjoy on Nantucket is dependent on having accessible, resilient and timely high-quality healthcare available, close to home, for our community throughout the year.

To deliver this care, our greatest strength is our talented team of dedicated healthcare professionals, who when needed, can leverage the talent, technology and extraordinary capabilities of Mass General Brigham through our over 16-year affiliation with MGH and now the MGB Community Division.

As the past three years have shown, the island community depends on NCH to have the resilience and resources to serve a wide range of patient needs. As we emerge from the crisis of the COVID pandemic, we find the healthcare industry is now experiencing unprecedented staffing, operational and financial challenges throughout the state of Massachusetts and the entire country. NCH is no exception.

For NCH to meet these challenges today and for tomorrow, we must address the dramatic increases in wage costs, inflationary pressures, and the growth and seasonality of our patient volume throughout the hospital.

Now, more than ever, philanthropy is a critical source of funding that enables Nantucket Cottage Hospital to meet our challenges and the needs of the island. The recent construction of the new hospital, funded 100% through philanthropy, has provided a state-of the art platform to deliver a modern standard of highquality care. Additional monies are required for housing, talent, resources and new technologies to support our most formidable challenge of attracting, developing and retaining talent.

Many of you supported the Annual Fund and the relaunch of the annual Boston Pops Concert as well as our annual fundraising events which enables the continuation of the fundamental healthcare services and funds for new offerings that the Community needs to address for its diverse and growing population.

As the NCH Board of Trustees, we are very grateful for your continued support, stewardship and continued financial support of our mission. Your gifts to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital are an essential investment in the continued health and well-being of the Nantucket community we all cherish and will enable us to secure the future of NCH today and for future generations.

Please join with us in continuing to support the hospital again this year, and encourage your friends, to participate and help keep NCH a viable resource for you, your families and this Community.

Thank you,

Craig Muhlhauser Chair, NCH Board of Trustees