Dear Editor:

Closing St. Andrews ER just got personal for us. We had to make a late night visit there last week after my husband became ill. We drove five minutes, and were seen by a competent physician within 10 minutes, hours less than it would have been elsewhere, including Miles Memorial Hospital.

Lincoln County Healthcare has yet to explain how Miles (especially after it is downsized to a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital) will be able to accommodate the 7,000 year-round (disproportionately elderly) residents of the Boothbay peninsula and 9,000 on Pemaquid, let alone the combined surge to 40,000 in the summer. What are they thinking?

What LCH and MaineHealth have done is not illegal, per Attorney General Janet Mills. Their actions, however, are a grave breach of trust: violating the historic mission of the hospital and donations of the Gregory family, among others.

It also violates the contract with St. Andrews Village residents, which emphasized that there was a hospital available for acute care needs “convenient” and “within minutes.”

AG Mills failed to address the breach of fiduciary responsibility by the trustees. The board bears a responsibility to the community they agreed to serve. They are failing miserably and have violated our trust. Real estate values will undoubtedly decline. Taxes will go up by $400,000 to support the ambulance service.

Emergency rooms are required to care for all patients, regardless of ability to pay. There is no such requirement for urgent care centers, and uninsured are often the most in need.

Closing St. Andrews is unnecessary and unjust. It can continue to be profitable with a different management model. Under the current approach, it is likely that Miles, too, will be closed within 5 years.

In last fall’s elections, 86 percent of the residents said they wanted to keep St. Andrews Hospital. Their wishes are being ignored by LCH.

The region is isolated and the peninsula has narrow, windy roads that are stressful to drive in good weather, let alone in the middle of the night or in bad weather. Citizens here want and deserve 24-hour emergency care, available to all.

Judy Stone, MD
Boothbay Harbor