Pen Bay Healthcare and MaineHealth announced today they are exploring the possibility of forming a strategic affiliation.  MaineHealth is an integrated health system comprised of hospitals and allied health organizations including Maine Medical Center and Miles Memorial Hospital, among others.  The affiliation, if completed, would facilitate increased collaboration and opportunities among the local health system (Pen Bay) and the largest system and hospital in the state (MaineHealth and Maine Medical Center). 

“We think that by working more closely together, we can better serve our community,” said Roy A. Hitchings, Jr., President and C.E.O. of Pen Bay Healthcare.  “In today’s healthcare world, we need to insure we are doing everything possible to locally deliver high quality, safe patient care.  At the same time, we must strive to restrain health care inflation and be very cost conscious.  MaineHealth has a strong track record of doing this.” 

“Most of our patient referrals for tertiary, highly specialized care already go to Maine Medical Center,”said Dr. Dana L. Goldsmith, Vice President Medical Affairs at PBMC.  “Maine Medical Center has a well-deserved reputation as an excellent tertiary care center and was recently named one of “America’s Best Hospitals” – top 50 designation for heart and heart surgery and orthopedics – by USNews and World Report.    Our medical staff have strong relationships with many of the physicians in Portland, and many of us trained at MMC.  We know them and they know us.” 

The affiliation would initially focus on several key clinical and operational areas, including: plans for implementing an Electronic Medical Record (EMR); Cancer Care expansion; electronic linkage to intensivists at MMC (e-ICU); systems to improve treatment of chronic diseases such as asthma and diabetes; and supply cost reductions associated with greater group purchasing power. 

“I would like to stress that we are not talking about a change in ownership, but a much closer working relationship,” said Mr. Hitchings.  “There are a number of clinical service areas and technological advances we believe are important to offer our community, and this affiliation with MaineHealth may be a faster way to achieve these goals and less costly than doing it alone.” 

Mr. Hitchings went on to say, “Pen Bay Healthcare and MaineHealth are already collaborating—for example: PBMC Cardiology is already affiliated with Maine Cardiology Associates in Portland, and we have a growing relationship with Miles Memorial Hospital (part of MaineHealth) for whom we provide Urology, Neurology and ENT specialists they do not possess—so collaboration is not a new concept for us.  We want to assess whether the time is right to expand the scope of this relationship and what the net benefits to the health and wellness of our community would be as a result.” 

Meetings are currently underway with working groups made up of key leaders from both organizations.  Completion of the exploration and a recommendation to the Pen Bay Healthcare Board of Trustees is expected by the end of the calendar year. 

MaineHealth is a family of leading, high-quality providers dedicated to ensuring their communities are among the healthiest in America.  Member organizations include Maine Medical Center, Miles Memorial Hospital, St. Andrews Hospital, Stephens Memorial Hospital, Spring Harbor Hospital, HomeHealth Visiting Nurses, NorDx, Synernet, and Maine Physician Hospital Organization.  Affiliates of MaineHealth include MaineGeneral Medical Center, Mid Coast Hospital, Southern Maine Medical Center, and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center.