Dear Editor:

Last Monday I had increasing belly pain and, by late evening, my wife packed me up and took me to the ER at St. Andrews. My experience there was extremely positive. Within five minutes of walking in the door, I was registered and in a room in the ED. I was seen by the physician not 10 minutes after that. He was quickly able to diagnose the problem and resolve the issue for the time being, although I am scheduled for surgery to correct the issue more permanently.

The physician, from Miles, referred us there, which we declined. We asked about a referral to Mid Coast, but were told that was not part of their referral pattern. We then agreed to travel down to Portland to see a surgeon.

After traveling to Maine Medical, I was surprised to learn that my needed surgery, now (at least for the moment) elective, could not be done for three weeks because of a sewage leak in the operating room. Had I been told that before our trip to Portland, we would have insisted on going to Mid Coast, Lewiston or Augusta.

As I was experiencing the second worse pain I have ever experienced in my life, the fact that I was able to get to the hospital in five minutes and be seen in under 15 minutes made a huge difference.

Had it been the night before, in the torrential rain and the fog, having my wife try to drive me off the peninsula would have been a nightmare. (We would have gone to Brunswick; who would go to another tiny hospital once they leave here, anyway, given a choice?)

I very much regret LCH’s impending closure of St. Andrews' emergency room. I think St. Andrews is an extremely valuable asset to the peninsula community, and fail to understand why LCH is insisting on turning it into a daytime-only urgent care center. They should reconsider and instead try to restore the community’s trust.

Mark Skinner
Boothbay Harbor