Maine Medical Center dedicated its new 190,000-square-foot East Tower today, with former first lady Barbara Bush and Gov. John Baldacci attending the event.

The new center includes units for prenatal care, labor, delivery and recovery, neonatal intensive care, and mother-baby units. It also is the future location of an expanded emergency department, and represents the latest piece in the hospital's expansion.

"This is a very exciting time for all of us at Maine Medical Center," said Richard Petersen, the hospital's interim president and CEO. "Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi said, 'The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual,' and this has never been more true than with this project."

More than 500 employees from women and infants' services and the emergency department will work in East Tower.

Maine Medical Center, the state's largest hospital, delivers approximately 2,500 babies each year. Additionally, 70 percent of all low-birth-weight babies born in Maine are cared for at MMC's Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

An estimated 55,000 patients are treated in the medical center's emergency department each year. Its 25,000-square-foot expansion into the basement of the East Tower is slated to open next year.

The new mother-baby units open for patient care Sept. 16.