A History of Support from the Harold Alfond Foundation: University of New England

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A History of Support from the Harold Alfond Foundation

SUPPORTING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND’S CONTINUED GROWTH AS MAINE’S LEADING HEALTH CARE EDUCATOR

Written by Angela Coulombe

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND (UNE) has a longstanding relationship with the Harold Alfond Foundation based on a shared commitment to meeting the health and educational needs of all Mainers and giving back to the communities of Maine. As Harold Alfond liked to say, “I can only wear one pair of pants at a time, and I would rather give them away than have them sitting around my closet.” Helping those who needed help was how he lived his life.

So on a fall day in 1993, Harold Alfond paid a co-

the Harold Alfond Foundation

vert visit to UNE, accompanied by and at the persuasion of Greg Powell, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation but then a practicing lawyer. Greg had been inspired by practitioner alumni of UNE and by UNE’s passion, promise for growth, and the determination and quality of its faculty and students. Alfond recognized UNE’s entrepreneurial spirit — it houses the only medical school in Maine — and he also saw that UNE was unique in offering a broad range of health and health-related clinical disciplines that engaged practitioners, scholars, and researchers across health professions to educate a future workforce in Maine. Alfond believed that UNE needed a state-of-the-art health sciences center to continue to be Maine’s leader in health care workforce education and that he could help spearhead this initiative. In 1995, the foundation that bears his name donated $2.5 million to build the Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences, the anchor for UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. Today, this three-story building houses numerous laboratories and lecture halls, used by medical, health professions, and athletic training students for study. The building also houses the Sewall Osteopathic Medicine Skills Laboratory, an open lab with 60 patient tables where medical, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and athletic training students practice manipulative medicine and physical examination techniques.

Harold Alfond, a high school athlete and lifelong sports fan, also understood the positive relationship between athletics and academics and recognized that state-of-the-art educational and athletic facilities are fundamental resources that enhance the mental and physical well-being of students. In 2010, the Foundation continued its support of UNE by transforming campus life and athletics with a gift of $7 million to build the Harold Alfond Forum on UNE’s Biddeford campus. The athletic complex boasts a 900-seat NHL-size hockey rink, 1,200-seat basketball court, multipurpose indoor practice courts, modern locker rooms and a fitness center, and provides UNE’s student-athletes, both varsity and intramural, with outstanding amenities. Located next to UNE’s new synthetic blue turf football and softball fields, the forum also houses and provides premier facilities for UNE’s Athletic Training and Applied Exercise Science programs, with custom-designed LEFT: The Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences, University of New England, Biddeford, Campus. BELOW: Facility dedication plaque inside the main foyer of the Harold Alfond Forum, University of New England, Biddeford, Campus.

“I CAN ONLY WEAR ONE PAIR OF PANTS AT A TIME, AND I WOULD RATHER GIVE THEM AWAY THAN HAVE THEM SITTING AROUND MY CLOSET.”

— HAROLD ALFOND

ABOVE: The Harold Alfond Forum, University of New England, Biddeford, Campus LEFT: University of New England’s ice arena, housed inside the Harold Alfond Forum, Biddeford, Campus

teaching and laboratory spaces.

At the same time in 2010, in addition to the $7 million for the Forum, the Alfond Foundation awarded UNE another $3 million to support research and programming in interprofessional education, or IPE — a growing national movement in team-based collaborative health professions education.

The Foundation’s most recent investment in the university was announced in October 2020, with a grant of $30 million to support the relocation of UNE’s medical college from Biddeford to a brand new, state-of-the-art building in Portland, where it will join UNE’s many health profession programs in the Westbrook College of Health Professions as well as the College of Dental Medicine. The new 110,000-square-foot medical education building will strengthen what has become UNE’s signature, nationally

University of New England president, James Herbert, PhD, with Gregory Powell, Alfond Foundation chairman, attend a press conference held on the University of New England’s Portland Campus in October 2020, which announced the Foundation’s latest gift to the University.

recognized programs in interprofessional education, thanks to the Foundation’s earlier investment in IPE.

The relocation of the medical college will establish on UNE’s Portland Campus a health professions education hub unprecedented in Maine and New England, helping UNE fulfill its mission to bring health disciplines together on one campus where students will learn to work in integrated teams. The cutting-edge facilities will allow UNE to significantly increase the number of physicians trained each year and will create a digital health teaching center to focus on telehealth and digital health technologies such as wearable devices, artificial intelligence, robotics, health data discovery and application — all especially critical in meeting the needs of rural residents living in isolated areas away from population centers. The new building will be adjacent to an expanded patient simulation center that can accommodate large cohorts of student teams engaging in case studies and collaborative learning. The new Portland campus will fully integrate all of UNE’s professional health care education programs with its health-related Centers for Excellence, including those in Collaborative Education, Aging and Health, Digital Health, and Public Health.

UNE President James Herbert noted that the new state-of-the-art facility to be built on the Portland Campus as UNE COM’s new home will greatly enhance the quality of education that the university provides to its medical students as the result of the building’s specially designed learning spaces and advanced technological components. This 21st century digital health education will help ensure all Maine residents receive equitable access to quality health care.

Hebert also noted how the Alfond gift will benefit the Biddeford Campus. “By relocating the College of Osteopathic Medicine to the Portland Campus, we will be able to expand our undergraduate and graduate programming in several market-aligned fields of study as well as grow many of our current programs by taking advantage of the availability of additional labs, class-

rooms, and other spaces vacated by the medical school. This is only possible thanks to the generous and visionary investment of the Harold Alfond Foundation,” he shared.

“The Foundation has stood behind the mission and growth of UNE for the past 25 years,” says Powell. “Though Harold Alfond made many gifts to higher education, there were none of which he was more proud than his first gift to UNE in 1995 for the health science center in Biddeford. The Foundation could feel back in 1995, as we know for a fact today, that the university would grow into its name and become a great contributor to Maine, its economy, and the health of its people. Today, the Foundation still sees a great and promising future for Maine and its people, and we see UNE as a huge part of that future.”

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Thank you, Harold Alfond & The Harold Alfond Foundation, for investing in Maine’s future. We’re honored to be your partner. — Your Friends at FAME