MARS HILL, Maine — Aroostook County will lose a main care medical apply on Aug. 1 when Northern Gentle A.R. Gould Hospital closes its Mars Hill Well being Middle.
The closure was prompted by shortages of employees and medical suppliers, Gould officers stated Tuesday.
Though the hospital will supply Mars Hill’s three employees members positions within the system and says it may possibly take up the sufferers at its different practices, it means the city’s residents might want to journey farther for primary well being care.
Maine’s medical services, like many different companies, have been launched into employment crises with the COVID-19 pandemic. The scenario prompted York Hospital in Wells to droop emergency companies final October, and in January, Maine Military Nationwide Guard personnel reported at a number of state hospitals to help within the face of employees shortages.
The choice was a tough one, Gould President and CEO Greg LaFrancois stated.
“In the end, with the challenges of standard supplier protection on the clinic and total staffing shortages at our services, it made probably the most sense to shut this apply that has low main care use,” LaFrancois stated. “We do have the flexibility at different areas to cowl the necessity.”
The Mars Hill facility is a small apply staffed by a single medical supplier, he stated. Though there are about 900 sufferers formally enrolled there, some haven’t been lively lately, and others might have moved to a different supplier or left the realm.
Sufferers should discover a new medical residence, both at one in all Gould’s different main practices in Presque Isle, Caribou or Fort Fairfield, or one other supplier altogether.
It’s robust to fill supplier and employees vacancies throughout the board in as we speak’s setting, however because of the Mars Hill workplace’s low quantity, the problem has been notably tough, LaFrancois stated.
The well being heart closure is not going to have an effect on sufferers or employees on the Northern Gentle Persevering with Care facility in Mars Hill, which supplies long-term care and rehabilitation companies for 72 sufferers.
Letters have gone out to well being heart sufferers concerning the shutdown and different out there suppliers.
“Our greatest precedence now’s to assist our main care sufferers get established with one other supplier. We need to guarantee their care continues with little or no disruption,” LaFrancois stated.
The hospital can supply sufferers care at one other of its services till they discover a new supplier of their selection, he stated.
The well being heart has three employees members, and Gould will transition them to different openings if they want. The hospital has given them the choice to select any place for which they’re certified, LaFrancois stated.
