Remembering First Lady Barbara Bush

MaineHealth Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (MHBBCH) was named in honor of first lady Barbara Bush for her long-standing commitment to children's issues around the world. It takes a great deal of support to start a children’s hospital. It was clear when the hospital was founded in 1995 that Mrs. Bush, a well-known advocate for literacy and the well-being of young people and part-time Maine resident, was someone who could help lead the way.

Both President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush attended the opening of the children’s hospital inpatient unit in 1998. Both George and Barbara Bush took an active interest in the hospital over the years.

Mrs. Bush visited many times, including on her 86th birthday in 2011, when she read patients a favorite children’s book, “Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee” by Maine author Chris Van Dusen. In addition to promoting health, Mrs. Bush was also a strong advocate for children’s literacy and learning programs. Through efforts like the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, Mrs. Bush helped empower children and families to succeed by embracing reading.

MaineHealth is extremely proud to support Barbara Bush’s legacy through MHBBCH. In recent years, we have sought to honor and sustain that legacy of support by establishing MHBBCH specialty license plate program. When the former first lady learned a patient was helping to gather signatures in support of the license plate effort, she wrote him a letter of encouragement and later spoke with him over video chat.

Today, MHBBCH is a testament to the first lady’s unwavering passion for the children of Maine.

"Children need and deserve the very best care possible, and they will find it here..."
– Barbara Bush, 1995