Maine Attorney General Janet Mills has determined there are no legal grounds for her to change Lincoln County Healthcare’s decision to close St. Andrews Hospital’s emergency room.

In a June 3 letter (attached) to Rep. Bruce MacDonald (D-Boothbay), Mills wrote that she had carefully reviewed governance documents for St. Andrews Hospital, including the definitive agreement with MaineHealth, and “found no violation of Maine law in the composition or decision making process of either the St. Andrews Board or the Lincoln County Healthcare Board.”

Mills wrote that the AG “is not allowed to second guess the judgments of properly constituted boards or to determine the best use of charitable assets.”

“We found no indication that anyone is improperly benefiting from charitable assets or that anyone is applying those assets in contradiction to the corporation’s charitable purposes, as determined by the governing articles and amendments,” Mills wrote, “In short, there is no legal basis for us to challenge the process or decisions of the St. Andrews Hospital board of directors or Lincoln County Healthcare’s board.”

“I am disappointed of course,” Rep. MacDonald said, “My view is that this answers the question of whether any state laws were broken. But for me, the larger question always was, and still is, how could the community have had a role to play in this that might have resulted in a better decision for our health care needs on the peninsula. The community is not bought in, because it was not brought in.”

Lincoln County Healthcare CEO Jim Donovan said he was not surprised by Mills’ decision. “It’s not surprising to us based on our understanding of the law,” Donovan said, “The work that went into this decision by the Task Force and Wellness Foundation certainly reflects their commitment to healthcare in the region. We hope we can work with the Foundation in the future on our common goals of improving the community’s health and access to healthcare.”

Patty Seybold, President of the Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation, wrote in an email, “Frankly, we are surprised by Janet Mills' decision not to intervene in Lincoln County Healthcare's plan to close St. Andrews’ ER in Boothbay Harbor and to move all patient beds to Damariscotta, thereby depriving the people on our peninsula of the hospital that St. Andrews Hospital’s charitable corporation was established to provide. The Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation will continue its efforts to keep St. Andrews Hospital open 24/7. “

LD 1127, the proposed bill to create a Lincoln County hospital administrative district, is still not formally out of committee, but MacDonald said he would not fight the 7-5 “ought not to pass” vote on the legislative floor. With legislative and legal remedies apparently off the table, it is unclear how the Wellness Foundation will be able to block the ER closure, currently planned for October 1. The local nonprofit will hold a public meeting at the Boothbay Town office on June 11 at 7 p.m.

Sue Mello can be reached at 207-844-4629 or suemello@boothbayregister.com.