Central Maine Healthcare leaders stand in Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where victims of a mass shooting were brought on Oct. 25, 2023. On Wednesday, the hospital’s Trauma Response Team received this year’s Maine Hospital Association Caregiver of the Year Award for their work that night and after. From left, front, are Sheldon Stevenson, DO chief of emergency medicine, Kris Chaisson, senior vice president and chief nursing officer, and Jen Bodger, vice president of clinical and support services; in back, Lauren Adey, MD, chief of Orthopedic Institute; Steve Littleson, president and CEO; and Hannah Stonebreaker, PA, lead APP surgical specialist.

ROCKPORT — The Trauma Response Team at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston received this year’s Maine Hospital Association Caregiver of the Year Award on Wednesday for the care they gave victims of the mass shooting in Lewiston on Oct. 25, 2023.

The award, which is presented annually at the association’s Summer Forum at the Samoset Resort, is usually given to a single health care worker selected from a field of nominees. But the performance of the CMMC team in the aftermath of the shooting meant that changes to the usual award process were necessary, MHA President Steven Michaud.

The shooting at two recreation businesses left 18 people dead and 13 injured.

“Like everyone else in Maine, we were impressed by the skill, caring and professionalism exhibited by the whole team at CMMC,” Michaud said in a written statement. “There really wasn’t any question this year that we would give the award to the team, just like there wasn’t any question in their minds that they would help in this crisis, even if they weren’t scheduled to work.”

The award was accepted by Steve Littleson, CEO of Central Maine Healthcare. He was joined at the ceremony by several members of the trauma response team.

Littleson accepted the “award in remembrance of the lives lost on Oct. 25, 2023 and in tribute to our patients who were injured that night. On behalf of all of us at CMMC, we thank the Maine Hospital Association for this recognition.”

On the evening of the shooting, Central Maine Healthcare quickly assembled a large team of surgeons who have expertise in orthopedics, cardiovascular, thoracic, colorectal, urologic, plastic and general surgery. They were aided by more than 100 nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other CMH health care professionals, all of whom have had extensive training in mass casualty incidents, according to the association.

Nearly all of the victims who initially survived the attack were brought to CMMC in Lewiston.

According to the association, the first patient arrived at 7:24 p.m. Within 42 minutes, a total of 15 injured people were transported to CMMC to an emergency department that was already well over capacity. Two were deceased upon arrival. One patient died after being admitted. Two patients were discharged that evening. One patient was transported to Maine Medical Center in Portland, and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston treated one patient with minor injuries.

In choosing the CMMC team for the award, the association noted that the team didn’t just provide medical care to the patients, they provided emotional support to the hurting community. The night after the tragedy, members of the nursing team lit hundreds of candles in the windows of the solarium over the emergency department to let the community know everyone at CMMC was thinking of them.

Most admitted patients were discharged from CMMC within the first few weeks following the shooting. Three, however, had extended stays in the ICU because of their extensive injuries and the complicated, multiple surgeries they required.

According to award announcement, each time one of the final three patients left, Central Maine Healthcare team members lined the halls leading to the main entrance as a symbol of solidarity and to wish the patients well, as they were escorted out of the building with their family members.

The final patient from the shooting left CMMC three days before Christmas. The candles in the solarium over the emergency department, which had been lit for more than 50 days, were extinguished, but the healing had just begun, according to the association.

As painful as that night was for staff at CMMC, in the months since the shooting the hospital staff has shared their story with staff from hospitals all over Maine so their counterparts can learn from their experience. This generosity is just one more reason Maine Hospital Association wanted to honor the CMMC team, Michaud said.