Portland-based Maine Medical Center and Southern Maine Health Care on June 1 combined their hospital licenses and medical staff to establish a multi-campus medical center known as MaineHealth Maine Medical Center.
The combination, part of MaineHealth's plan to roll out a unified identity for all facilities, aims to improve care by sharing resources and clinical expertise and providing a more consistent patient experience. It also paves the way for an increase in the number of residency and fellowships offered by MHMMC to medical school graduates.
As a result of the license integration and updates to the names of services and locations at MaineHealth facilities, the Southern Maine Health Care brand will be retired and MHMMC's three primary locations will be known as:
- MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Portland
- MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Biddeford
- MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Sanford
"Not only will this allow us to better care for patients, but it also supports another dimension of our not-for-profit mission: educating tomorrow's caregivers," Britt Crewse, president of MaineHealth’s southern region that includes MaineHealth Maine Medical Center, said in a June 4 news release.
MHMMC plans to add 62 new residency and fellowship slots across several specialties, including internal medicine, general surgery, diagnostic radiology, OB-GYN, neurology, gastroenterology, cardiology, vascular surgery, neurosurgery and endocrinology.
The additional positions will start to be filled in July 2024 and continue through 2027. The gastrointestinal, vascular surgery, neurosurgery and endocrinology residency/fellowship programs will all be new.
"Maine has a significant need for additional providers in a variety of medical disciplines, and that need is particularly acute in rural areas," Doug Sawyer, MD, chief academic officer at MaineHealth, said. "National data and our own experience as an academic medical center with more than 300 current residents and fellows show that physicians often go on to practice in the communities where they complete their training. We are incredibly fortunate to expand this talent pipeline."