ROCKPORT — A new one-and-three-quarter mile fitness trail officially opened around the Pen Bay Medical Center property, Saturday, Sept. 17. The trail circumnavigates the hospital grounds, yet is also accessible from a small, unpaved parking lot across from CedarWorks on Route 1.

Information kiosks at each of nine fitness stations provide one or two exercises for stretching and muscle strengthening, none of which requires more equipment than the bench or post provided.

One year ago, PBMC held its first employee chili cookoff fundraiser. Administrators then asked staff what wellness-based venture they wished those funds to be allocated. The overwhelming response supported the trail expansion of the short path already in existence.

There was a lot of early enthusiasm for the trail, according to Ellie Willmann of the Pen Bay Waldo County Healthcare Foundation. Area residents expressed desire for another place to walk. And for patients, families, doctors, and other staff, the trail provides a place to go, to wait, to decompress.

“Nature is really a great thing. It’s restorative,” she said.

Some of the highlights of the trail listed by Willmann include beautiful views of the water, varied terrain and multiple access points for walkers who desire only a short stroll.

“It’s lovely,” she said of the $200,000 project, which required clearing trees and other obstacles, laying down wood chips and building bridges.

Lumber for the bridges was donated by Viking Lumber, and CedarWorks gifted the project with benches. Other corporate sponsors gave, as well as board members of the Foundation.

According to Willmann, a group of area residents in their 20s and 30s, called The New Leaders Council, also helped with fundraising.

The biggest contribution however, $77,000, came from hospital employee donations of accrued paid time off funds and cash.

Because the employees, as a unit, contributed the largest amount, they were given the opportunity to name the trail. The majority of votes led to “Community Wellness Trail.”

Erik Frederick, chief operating officer for Pen Bay Medical Center, said: “I’ve been very passionate about this project. Probably annoyingly passionate.”

Frederick told attendees of the trail’s ribbon-cutting ceremony that he views this trail as a place for families waiting through loved ones’ surgeries to stretch their legs and boost their mental and spiritual outlooks. He sees the trail as a way for staff to clear their heads. And he also sees it as way to reshape the public’s view of a hospital.

He wants the public to start thinking: “This isn’t just where we go when we get sick. This is an organization that we can partner with to improve our health and have a great community.”

Along with the small parking area just north of the Sussman House property on Route one (across from CedarWorks), another access point is located opposite the employee/day surgery entrance on the northeast side of PBMC.

Sarah Thompson can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com.