It was just 14 years ago when MaineHealth closed Boothbay’s little St. Andrews Hospital.

MaineHealth, the Portland-based hospital conglomerate, transferred the equipment and its very valuable critical access hospital license to Miles Memorial in Damariscotta.

Sure, they held public forums for us to complain, but the decision had already been made. It was a kick in the teeth to a prideful community that spent years depending upon and supporting it. 

For the record, the little St. A. hospital was outdated, and the move to the better-equipped and better-staffed Miles unit made sense. They reluctantly replaced it with an urgent care unit. And they provided other services, including physical therapy, wound care, and toenail trimming for the elderly. Those are all good moves.

But it was the way the hospital brass hats did it that left a bad taste in the mouth of a lot of our neighbors. The folks from away made the decision, and that was that.

Back to today’s reality, MaineHealth is once again fumbling the ball by deciding to eliminate Miles’ highly respected maternity labor and delivery services.

Once again, MaineHealth’s actions have outraged the community. This time the opposition is an organized and determined group of young mothers, the very demographic the hospital needs. They fostered a very sophisticated public relations group called Miles Delivers.

Last week, the local Miles board of advisors met behind closed doors and voted to shutter the labor and delivery unit. Another vote, the final one, the corporate one, is slated for Thursday. But the Miles vote was not unanimous. And one longtime board member resigned after the vote.

Les Fossel, a former Republican Lincoln County chairman and legislator, walked out the door.

“I am outraged,” he said in an interview with the Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper. “The community meetings 14 years ago (in Boothbay) were pretty much the same. They’re letting people talk, but they’re not trying to enter into a conversation," hr said.

“I suggested that the birthing organization make a presentation to the board and that never happened. It is like a grand jury, where the prosecutor presents one side of the case and the grand jury decides to indict (after hearing) one half the story.

“That is what’s happening here. They (the local board) are getting one side of the story, and there’s no debate, no real discussion about this. And then, as far as I can see, the decision was predetermined by someone. Over a long time ago. We are just playing out. This is like hospice.”

Miles officials say they have not been able to hire a maternity physician because there is not enough business to keep a full-time physician busy. Fossel acknowledges this problem.

“We must address demographics. We are not producing babies at the rate we did in prior generations, and therefore we have to create a model where we can produce quality birthing services even though fewer people are being born,” he said.

“If you are running a business and want to stay in business and are not getting enough business, you figure out a way to grow your market share. And they have done zero to do that. It just doesn’t make sense; it's the nicest way to put it.”

Miles is a very good hospital. Consumer Reports named it one of the safest hospitals in the nation. In public meetings, the Miles Delivers members, many of whom happily brought their children into this world there, offer their praise for their service.

“People move here 'cause it a safe place. This is a spectacular place to live with spectacularly good services, and they take away a service,” Fossel said.

He praised the Miles physicians and their executives. “They are not bad people; they are just going in a bad direction.”

Fossel explained that Miles' focus is treating ailments common to older clients. They are not focusing on public health.

He notes that we live in the oldest county in the oldest state in the nation. Our average age is 52 or so.
“Do we want to turn (the hospital) into a way station to the cemetery? Do we want to be an old folks home or a community?” he said. “We will close in 10 years if we focus on treatment.”

In the last week, Republican and Democratic State House leaders have asked MaineHealth to pause their final Miles maternity decision until after state political leaders have a chance to examine the situation.