University of New England

Beginning with a 1994 grant to build the University of New England‘s Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences, the Foundation has supported UNE’s growth as Maine’s leading health care educator. The Center for Health Sciences, located on the Biddeford campus, has served as the home of UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNECOM), Maine’s only medical school. In the words of the University, “the Alfond Center for Health Sciences put UNECOM on the map and helped it grow to become the largest provider of primary care physicians for the State of Maine and a recognized leader in Interprofessional Education focused on team-based patient care.”

In 2010, the Foundation supported the construction of the Harold Alfond Forum, a combination athletic/academic center, on the University’s Biddeford campus. Featuring a hockey rink and basketball and performance courts, as well as classrooms, the Forum has spurred the growth of athletic and affiliated health care programs, major tools in the recruitment and retention of UNE undergraduate students. The 2010 grant also included a matching challenge to help launch the University’s interprofessional health care education programs, for which UNE is now nationally recognized.

In 2020, the Foundation announced a $30,000,000 investment in the University. The grant supports the creation of the Institute for Interprofessional Education and Practice and construction of an 110,000 square foot medical education building on UNE’s Portland campus, named the Harold and Bibby Alfond Center for Health Sciences. This project will not only unify UNE’s professional health education programs—and their 3,500 heath care students—in Portland, but will also enable the acceleration of high-growth undergraduate programs on the University’s Biddeford campus. In so doing, the grant will help strengthen Maine’s health care workforce.