The Maine Department of Health and Human Service’s preliminary decision on the Certificate of Need applications for the creation of Lincoln County Healthcare and the merger of St. Andrews and Miles Memorial Hospitals appears likely early next week.

“I do not expect the release of the preliminary analysis before the end of the week. Once it is ready to go we need to run a public notice. That should make the earliest release date as Monday,” Senior Healthcare Analyst Larry Carbonneau wrote in an email to Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation President Patty Seybold on February 24.

The public will have 15 days to comment upon the preliminary analysis once it is released. The Boothbay Register will provide the public notice and analysis on its website, as soon as the report is available.

Related: Hospital reorganization in state’s hands