Summer is finally here and so are our treasured summer visitors. The town is alive with people from all over the world: those who have been coming to the peninsula for years and those who are here for the first time.

Of course, everyone wants to know about the red hearts. And this is for you: a short summery of where we have been and where we are now and how you can help.

In August 2012, Lincoln County Healthcare announced that, as of April 1, 2013, they would be closing the Emergency Department at St. Andrews Hospital. They further determined that the hospital would no longer have Critical Access designation, no longer have acute-care beds, and that patients could no longer be taken there by ambulance.

In the future, they said, there would be an urgent care center, open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Patients could come under their own steam to see a doctor. 911 calls would be taken off the peninsula to Miles Memorial, Mid-Coast, or Portland.

In order to better understand what had driven these service changes, the four communities, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Southport, and Edgecomb put together an inter-local task force and invited citizen participation. The goal of the task force was to keep St. Andrews open as a hospital with an emergency room and in-patient beds—retaining it’s Critical Access designation for the highest level of reimbursement for services.

Volunteer working groups were formed and the communities began to educate themselves about healthcare. Fundraising began in earnest. Community suppers were held, donation boxes were placed around town, individual donations were solicited. Through these grassroots efforts, nearly $88,000 was raised to hire an attorney to write the legal position paper “Breach of A Communities Trust” and to commission a market analysis to examine the findings of the study LCH used to make their decision to change services here on the peninsula.

After many months of weekly meetings, the task force was invited to the table with Lincoln County Healthcare and negotiations were attempted. Eventually, LCH announced that the closing date had been moved to October 1, 2013 but they held fast to their decision to do so.

On April 30, the task force completed its work and turned the reins over to the newly-formed Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation, a charitable corporation registered with the state of Maine.
Its purpose is to continue to try to convince MaineHealth and Lincoln County Healthcare that we need a fully functional hospital with a 24/7 Emergency Room here on the Boothbay peninsula. Moving forward, it will work with the people of the region to identify and develop programs to meet their needs.

In recent weeks, Lincoln County Healthcare has announced that the Critical Access designation held by St. Andrews Hospital will be transferred to Miles Memorial Hospital through an adjustment in corporate structure. In keeping with the CAH designation, the number of acute-care beds at Miles will be reduced from 38 to 25 and, as of September first, the beds at St. Andrews will no longer exist.

Concerned about the future level of healthcare services in the area, the Health and Wellness foundation has been working diligently with the people of the region to identify and develop programs to meet their needs.

We will roll out a plan of action (developed from 11 months of research) at the first annual meeting of the Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation, which will be held on August 17 at 1 p.m. at a location to be determined. This is not just about serving the people of the region; it is about having needed healthcare services for our summer visitors as well.

So how can you help? First, join the foundation. A printable membership application can be found at www.savesaintandrews.org. You may choose to be a supporting member or, if you are a property owner or a taxpayer, you can be a voting member. The membership donation amount is at the discretion of the applicant. Second, write a letter to the editor of 350 words or fewer. We would like to hear your stories about trips to the hospital in an effort to document that the service has, in fact, been used and is an important service to travelers and summer residents. Third, watch the local paper meeting announcements and plan to attend.

For further information: Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation, P.O. Box 335, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538 Telephone: 207-633-6290.