Jolly Arsenault sat in the quiet hospital room chatting with his wife, Laura.

When she got out of her chair to move across the room, he stood by with his hand on her shoulder. When she had a problem remembering a date or a name, he stood by her and provided an answer. When she moved, he explained how she is getting much better. It was all because of the care she received from the nurses, aides and the doctors at St. Andrews Hospital, he said.

“If it were not for the emergency room doctors and nurses, she would not be here at all,” he said.

Laura Arsenault, who is scheduled to be discharged on Tuesday, Sept. 24, is one of the last patients of St. Andrews Hospital. On October 1, the emergency room will close and the building will officially become St. Andrews campus of LincolnHealth.

The thought of losing the hospital bothers Jolly Arsenault.

“This hospital is as much a part of Boothbay as the footbridge,” he said.

Arsenault, whose real name is John, is 83. His wife is 82. They were both born in the old St. Andrews Hospital and lived in Boothbay Harbor all their lives. He worked in the plumbing business, she raised their sons and coached sports. They once lived across the street from Dr. Phil Gregory. When their three sons got banged up, Laura Arsenault would send them across the street to be patched up.

“He never charged me,” said Jolly Arsenault.

Over the years, they both have found their way into the hospital for this or that reasons. She has had two back operations there.

On June 21, she got out of bed in the middle of the night. Somehow, she fell down the stairs of their home. She cracked a vertebrae and was sent to St. Andrews.

On the evening of Friday, July 5, she suddenly had a terrible headache. That headache and other symptoms alerted hospital nurses. They called her doctor, Alan Barker, and hustled her into the emergency room. Dr. Daniel Bates and Barker quickly decided she had to be taken by helicopter to the Maine Medical Center in Portland.

It was not a simple headache. It was a cerebral hemorrhage.

After Maine Med’s surgeons worked on her, she spent 19 days rehabbing and came back to St. Andrews, where she remained until her discharge.

“Even before this, (incident) St. Andrews was part of my home. I had my three sons here. They were always wonderful to us,” she said.

As she stayed in St. Andrews, she worked with physical therapists and nurses to regain the use of her left side which was paralyzed during her episode.

She is a little ambivalent about the hospital closure, but she is very happy with the care she has received during her stay.

At one point, Jim Donovan, the hospital’s chief executive, stopped in to chat.

“I didn’t squawk to him, but I did say we were not pleased they were going to close. I told him the care I received from them all was above and beyond what I needed,” she said.

Jolly Arsenault is not reluctant to chide about the hospital’s decision to close.

“I remember when Dr. Gregory ran this hospital with a three-legged stool and a black bag,” he said. “That was back in the Depression when lots of people didn’t have anything and everyone helped each other. Now people are all just about making a buck.”

Laura Arsenault smiled as a smiling nurse stopped by to look in on her. The nurse glanced on the bed. “I see you are knitting?” the nurse said.

“Yes, I am knitting some dishcloths for the therapy department down the end of the hall. They need some,” she said.

The nurse then made a gentle inquiry. “They say (after you are discharged) you are going to live in a cabin with one floor. That is good,” the nurse said.

“Yes, we are going to stay in a cabin on Knickerbocker Pond. It belongs to Billy, one of our sons,” said Jolly Arsenault.

“I am going to bring my five-string banjo and her (Laura’s) guitar. Maybe we can still make music together.”