A plan by the parent company of Maine Medical Center and 10 other community hospitals to merge its member organizations into one unified entity is moving forward.
MaineHealth says the boards of nine of the 10 members that make up the system have decided it’s time to engage their communities about unifying under a single board of trustees with a combined financial structure. Regulatory processes specific to New Hampshire have delayed a vote by a member hospital in that state.
In a press release, MaineHealth says the inability to deploy resources across the system has become a significant problem for MaineHealth’s community hospitals in recent years. They are said to be under increasing financial pressure because of changes in the way health care is being delivered.
The organization says the proposal under discussion would leave in place local boards that would retain significant responsibility for hospital services and other care delivered in local communities.
