By MEGAN DOOLEY

Armed with windbreakers and sunglasses — and plenty of coffee in paper cups, a modest group of Islanders rose Sunday morning, following an opening gala the night before that crept into the wee hours, to witness the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.

John Ferguson, chairman of the hospital board of directors, took his place at the white podium shortly after 11 a.m. to welcome friends and benefactors to the new building, expressing gratitude to the Island community that has turned the unprecedented $48 million fund-raising and construction project into reality.

“This is pretty exciting, isn’t it?” he asked the windblown onlookers, thanking donors for their generosity and praising its result. “This hospital is absolutely gorgeous, and there is no mortgage,” he said.

Mr. Ferguson was followed at the podium by capital campaign committee cochairman Warren Spector, who joked that the completion of fund-raising efforts meant an improved social life for him. “Now, when I call my friends up to play golf, they actually call me back,” he said. “It really is a special thing to see an entire community come together. It really is one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever been a part of in my life.”

Mr. Spector then invited children out of the semicircle of people crowded around the shiny new doors. Members of that generation, Mr. Ferguson said, will be the true beneficiaries of the new facility, and should take center stage at the opening ceremony.

In moments, the thick blue ribbon securing the sprawling new building was cut, and fell to the side as people filed through the front door to take their first look. Many paused at an adjacent wall to admire the plaques naming the members of the capital campaign before making their way through the yet-untouched hallways of the new Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.