Student Survives Collapsed Lung And Heads Back On the Courts and Field
MDI Hospital 2024 Community Celebration Highlights Medical Education, Innovative Care, Infrastructure Expansion and Survival
BAR HARBOR—Wyatt Fountaine knows what his dreams are, and the fifteen-year-old MDI High School student also knows how quickly life can tweak those dreams and turn a February day into a nightmare.
On what Wyatt called “a normal day” he was getting ready for school when he had a pain in his chest.
“I yelled at my mom to take a look and then I passed out in her arms,” he told a crowd gathered at the MDI Hospital’s community celebration at the Bar Harbor Club Wednesday night.
“My lung had collapsed and I needed emergency surgery,” he recalled.
According to the hospital’s annual report, Wyatt’s mom, Stephanie, caught him as he fell into her arms after he’d started down the stairs, heading to basketball practice. She rushed him to MDI Hospital.
Stephanie said, “It was every parent’s worst nightmare; we have never been so scared.”
Dr. Charlie Hendicks and the staff inserted a chest tube, an emergency procedure that required Wyatt to be awake for it.
“Dr. Hendricks and the staff talked to me the entire time,” Wyatt said. “I was the youngest they had seen with this.”
Wyatt’s lung was expanded again. Wyatt could breathe again. He also tested positive for COVID-19 and had to be isolated. There he had to undertake breathing exercises so that his lungs would regain strength.
Being isolated in the ICU is hard for anyone.
“Critical illness is associated with high rates of significant, negative psychologic and psychiatric sequelae that are associated commonly with post-intensive care syndrome (PICS).1 PICS refers to the cognitive, physical, and psychologic impairments that many patients experience after an ICU admission,” writes Kristin E. Canavera, PhD. in a 2020 paper for the American College of Chest Physicians.
Wyatt didn’t complain even though he was missing basketball, school, his friends, and eventually playoffs.
“I was so impressed by this young man,” Cote said.
He had a setback.
“When it seemed like my lung was healing, it collapsed again,” he said. “I was beyond scared at that point.”
His lung actually collapsed while he was getting a CT scan. Dr. Hendricks called in a pediatric pulmonologist and consulted via Zoom. A completely collapsed lung can lead to cardiovascular collapse
“It was life threatening and if not for the MDI Hospital, he may not have made it to another institution,” Dr. Hendricks relayed.
Wyatt went to a Portland hospital via ambulance. At the same time his basketball team, which was undefeated, was playing in the league championship. Wyatt couldn’t be there, but the ambulance personnel put the game on the phone and watched it with him during the ride.
The team won. They dedicated the game to Wyatt.
“Wyatt’s experience was a life changing experience. He came to MDI hospital and it was scary and it was difficult,” said MDI Hospital President/CEO Chrissi Maguire.
Wyatt’s story is one of hope and healing and community, she said.
“I am fifteen years old, the tenth generation of family” to live on the island, Wyatt said, and he knows how important having a local hospital with emergency medical care is in a rural place like Mount Desert Island, ten generations of his family have lived on the island, some of them living here before the hospital.
“Today I’m healthy and strong. I decided I was not going to let fear stop me,” Wyatt said. He’s playing football, training for basketball, and weightlifting every day. “My dream is to go to Duke University and become a basketball coach or a player.”
Because of the hospital and it’s care, he said, he can stand there and tell his story and “I can continue to reach for my dreams.”
Wyatt’s lungs are back to normal now and his life is too, but he’s changed. He knows how strong he is mentally; he knows he can conquer things, fight through troubles, and now, he said, he has faith in himself and in doctors.
“This is why we build strong teams, strong healthcare systems and strong communities,” Maguire said.
Board Chair Martha Wagner closed the evening, expressing her gratitude to patients and their families whose trust in the hospital and personal resilience inspires every day, she said.
“You bring a compassion and a warmth that profoundly impacts the lives of our patients,” and the staff, Wagner said to the volunteers.
She also thanked donors for their support. “Your belief in us fuels our ability to grow and innovate.”
She thanked the local businesses and community partners as well as employees and healthcare professionals. “Your dedication, your hard work, and your passion for patient care is the heart of our organization. We don’t exist without you.”
THE ANNUAL MEETING
Mount Desert Island Hospital’s new Kogod Center for Medical Education, expanding infrastructure with a new climate-resilient central utility plant that reduces reliance of fossil fuels, and planning for renovation and expansion of the Emergency Department were just some of the accomplishments highlighted at the organization’s 2024 Community Celebration.
During her remarks, Maguire spoke about the innovative new Kogod Center for Medical Education, a new home for the hospital’s Medical Education program led by Director of Medical Education Dr. Nate Donaldson and Program Coordinator Ann Worrick. This project was designed to train the next generation of medical education students by helping them to achieve individualized experiences in a variety of rural healthcare specialties.
“Completion of the new Kogod Center for Medical Education provides much-needed housing for students and residents who are critical to our staffing model,” says Maguire.
For 2024, the organization is on track to host 62 students, serving as the first of a series of major campus upgrades planned at MDI Hospital.
Prior to the celebration at the Bar Harbor Club, Wagner led the hospital’s annual meeting and thanked the board for helping to make them a vibrant organization prior to turning it over to Maguire.
“We are embarking on an exciting-very exciting for us phrase in the life of MDI Hospital,” Wagner said. The goal is and will always be enhancing the health of the community that the hospital serves.
As part of MDI Hospital’s efforts to provide the community with integrated care, the organization is investing in a series of infrastructure expansions and renovations. Maguire was pleased to report that MDI Hospital’s Emergency Department has secured $5 million dollars in federal funding by U.S. Senator Susan Collins, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Angus King, to expand the current ED to three times its current size. Plans also include upgrades to the hospital’s surgical suites and a new, more accessible main entrance from Bar Harbor’s Main Street.
There are multiple aspects of its strategic plan, which includes enhancing and redesigning the emergency department, increasing the surgical capacities, redesigning the main entrance so that people no longer have to go “into the depths of the parking lot” to get to the emergency room, Wagner said.
“We are all thrilled with this,” Wagner said.
The organization has also prioritized behavioral health by investing in increased staffing for all ages, enhancing child and adolescent therapy support, co-founding the MDI Regional Wellness Coalition, and partnering with Healthy Acadia and other regional agencies to provide substance use disorder treatment.
“Behavioral health remains a key priority, and we are steadfast in our dedication to expanding access to mental health services in our region,” says Maguire. “Together we are building a bolder, brighter future for healthcare in Downeast Maine.”
The hospital has been in Bar Harbor for 128 years and she said it plans to be there for another 128.
“There’s a sense of fragility on this island,” Maguire said, but “MDI Hospital is here, we are listening,” and focusing on behavioral and mental health issues. “Our community is no exception.”
The hospital organization finished its 2023-2024 fiscal year in the black with a net operating gain of $3.6 million according to its 2024 Annual Report. In addition, the organization provided more than 530 jobs and $772,166 in free and uncompensated care to the community during that time period.
This is the first of more than one story about the hospital’s events this week and the people celebrated, so if you’re wondering why a volunteer or person recognized wasn’t mentioned, they will be soon!
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
To learn more about MDI Hospital and to view its 2023-2024 Annual Report, visit mdihospital.org.
Photos: Shaun Farrar/BHS
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