Dear Readers,

I wish I had better news to report. But as you already know, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, our St. Andrews Hospital will disappear.

Oh, the building will still be there, but it no longer will have an emergency department. Instead it will be an urgent care clinic and rehab center, open during business hours. If you need help, call an ambulance and they will probably take you to Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta.

For the last year, lots of folks, including me, tried to convince the hospital management and the hospital board members to change their minds.

No one expected them to spend millions to develop a major cancer center or unveil a heart transplant unit. Folks just wanted them to keep the emergency facility open.

The good news was our community rallied behind folks who wanted to keep it open. Although they were not successful, it looks like they will continue to keep an eye on the hospital’s management and work to promote a healthy community.

The other bit of good news was while the hospital will go away, we found out the emergency department did not have a lot of business.

The really good news is we have not had a pandemic or a major storm or another terrible situation that would have provided the hospital with lots of paying customers for the emergency department.

The bad news is that the decision to close the hospital triggered a community-wide climate of fear.

All of us, year-round residents, summer folk, young, old, and those who are just visiting, always felt secure knowing an emergency department was nearby. When it is gone, we are a bit unsure what will happen in the future.

In the end, I suppose it was a pipe dream to think the St. Andrews Hospital board would change its mind.

After all, the same folks were on that board, the Miles Memorial Hospital board and the Lincoln County Health board. They just wore three hats.

Also, the board had lots of doctors sitting around the table and they all worked for Lincoln County Health. They owe loyalty to the folks who signed their paychecks.

Lincoln County Health made a business decision. A decision based on the amount of money Medicare/Medicaid and insurance companies would pay St. Andrews Hospital for medical services. They decided to consolidate services in Damariscotta at Miles.

No one can promise Miles will stay open for more than five years.

In the end, despite the propaganda from LCH management and their fumbling attempts at public relations, it is clear St. Andrews Hospital was not our hospital. It was theirs.

St. Andrews Hospital, Miles Memorial Hospital and their parent, Lincoln County Health, are not community hospitals owned by the community. They are private corporations governed by a private board of directors. Miles is in the same boat.

Over the years, we believed the hospital’s promise that St. Andrews was our hospital and would be there if and when we needed help. Based on that belief, our community donated millions of dollars and spent countless volunteer hours to help the hospital meet its fiscal needs and wants.

In the end, all our donations and volunteer efforts didn’t matter at all.

So rest in peace, St. Andrews Hospital.

You have our deepest thanks. We appreciate that over the years, your good doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals saved the lives of our children, our husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, grandparents, friends, visitors and the occasional sorehead.

We are sorry we could not do the same for you.