Lincoln County Healthcare’s plan to close the emergency room and relinquish St. Andrews’ hospital license means patient beds at St. Andrews Hospital would no longer be licensed. Much of the public backlash over the proposed changes has focused on the loss of those beds for recuperating patients and palliative care.

Since October 2012, Lincoln County Healthcare said it has been investigating ways to keep patient beds at the St. Andrews campus after October 1. Their approach has focused on obtaining 18 additional beds for the current hospital site under the Gregory Wing’s nursing home license.  

At a community advisory committee meeting on May 17, LCH Vice President of Physician Services Stacey Miller said the state will not allow LCH to use the Gregory Wing license for beds at St. Andrews Hospital. Miller said given this information, LCH is investigating two pathways.

The first approach is to seek a new nursing home license for the St. Andrews campus from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Miller said it could be a significant struggle to obtain this license since the state requires any new facility to be financially self-sustaining.

Miller said LCH’s current projections indicate that renovations at the St. Andrews Hospital facility would cost $1.5 to $2 million. The renovations would be necessary to comply with nursing home regulations.

LCH Vice President of Development, Marketing and Community Relations Scott Shott said LCH currently estimates the new nursing facility could lose up to $1 million a year. That negative financial assessment means the state is unlikely to approve the proposal.

Miller said LCH has contracted with Harmony Healthcare International, long-term care reimbursement and compliance experts, to revisit LCH’s financial projections.

“Our hope is we were conservative and their assessment will be better,” Miller said.

Miller said LCH is also looking into accommodating recuperating and palliative care patients at the Gregory Wing rather than at the hospital. Miller said there are currently six licensed beds at the Gregory Wing that could be converted for this use without additional licensing by the state.

“We don’t think six beds is enough, but it’s a place to start,” Miller said. Renovations at the Gregory Wing would be necessary to accommodate these patients, she said.

Miller said LCH is committed to figuring out a way to keep the beds.

“We haven’t given up on this, but it has slowed the process,” Miller said. “I think it is highly unlikely we can transition by October 1 to keep those beds at St. Andrews Hospital.”

Sue Mello can be reached at 207-844-4629 or sumello@boothbayregister.com.