Mayo Regional Hospital received approval from the state of Maine to join Northern Light Health, a nine-hospital system in Brewer, Maine, according to The Bangor Daily News.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services Jan. 16 said it had granted the necessary certificate for the merger. The deal already had been approved by the boards of both organizations.
The merger received approval despite opposition from the town of Cambridge and three dozen residents from other communities who collectively own Mayo Regional in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. The residents in those communities filed a lawsuit Dec. 20 in an attempt to block the merger.
Mayo Regional is owned by 13 communities that make up the hospital district. The legislation authorizing the merger will move the hospital's ownership to a subsidiary of Northern Light Health, and the district would dissolve.
The lawsuit filed by Cambridge argues that pursuing the deal without holding votes in all 13 communities of the hospital district was unconstitutional. It is unclear how the lawsuit will affect the merger.
Leaders of Mayo Regional said that merging with Northern Light Health is critical to keeping the hospital afloat. It has operated at a loss each year since 2010.
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