The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has granted approval for Lincoln County Healthcare, based in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, to merge its Boothbay critical access hospital, St. Andrews Hospital, into Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta, Maine, on the condition that LCH opens a 24-hour urgent care center on the Boothbay peninsula, according to a Portland Press Herald report.
Under a certificate of need authorized by DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew, LCH may merge the two hospitals only if it opens and operates an urgent care center for at least three years. However, if the health system — a subsidiary of Portland, Maine-based Maine Health — can prove there isn't enough demand to justify the costs, the center could close after only 18 months. LCH is considering its response to the urgent care center requirement, according to the report.
LCH was formed in 2007 to merge the two hospitals under one management team and one board of trustees, according to the report. Last July, CMS granted preliminary approval for LCH to merge St. Andrews and Miles and run both facilities under a single critical access hospital license, while converting St. Andrews into an urgent care center. LCH closed the emergency room and eliminated other services at St. Andrews last October because of financial issues and low volumes. The ER has been converted to an urgent care center but is only open 12 hours per day, according to the report.
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