BANGOR – The venerable Bangor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, formerly known as the Bangor City Hospital and the Bangor City Nursing Facility, soon will be under new management.

Members of the board of directors have announced a new business agreement with a private company, Lewiston-based North-Country Associates, to take over certain administrative functions and provide general consulting to the 178-year-old facility.

Board president Ken Huhn wants to be sure the public understands that the Texas Avenue nursing and rehabilitation center will retain its nonprofit, independent status. While many similar facilities have succumbed to the financial pressures of modern-day reimbursement difficulties, Huhn said Bangor Nursing and Rehab is in good financial shape and looking to stay that way.

By contracting with North Country, Huhn said, BNRC will hand off some of the more expensive and onerous administrative tasks, such as bookkeeping, drafting financial reports, and assuring compliance with legal and medical standards. North Country, which owns or manages 22 such long-term care facilities around the state, also will provide guidance in policy development, staffing levels and other areas, he said.

The value of the initial contract with BNRC is $175,000 plus incentives if North Country raises revenues by increasing reimbursements from Medicare. Medicare pays for the majority of the rehab services offered at the facility, while Medicaid covers much of the long-term residential care. Medicare services are reimbursed at a higher rate and help offset lower Medicaid payments.

Many nursing homes, including many in Maine, are now owned by private corporations. Huhn said in a recent interview that the private business model is becoming the norm. Facilities enjoy the benefits of the parent company’s centralized expertise and group economies in billing, purchasing, human resource services and other aspects, while standardizing employee training, medical protocols and human resource policies.

BNRC will benefit from many of those services, Huhn said, while retaining a local, board-overseen administrator. The facility, which began providing services as a publicly funded property of the city of Bangor, will continue to be a “public asset,” Huhn said. “We see it as belonging to the people.”

Huhn’s endorsement of the new contract was echoed by former board chair Clifton Eames. Eames said the historic facility is recognized for its superior care of both long-term residents and shorter-stay patients who come in to regain strength after surgery.

“It’s been a high-quality establishment for many years,” he said. “People shouldn’t see any change [as a result of the new contract] except maybe even better practices.”

Bangor Nursing and Rehab started life as an “alms house” in 1827. The following year, a large brick building, which currently houses Manna Ministries, was erected to house what soon came to be called the city’s “Poor Farm.” By the 1980s public records referred to it as the “City Hospital.” It wasn’t until the 1960s that services were relocated to the former military hospital on Texas Avenue and officially renamed Bangor City Nursing Facility.

It remained a branch of the city’s health department until six years ago, when it was reorganized as a private, board-governed, nonprofit company. Changes since that time include a number of renovations to the physical structure as well as the expansion of the physical rehabilitation program.

Bangor resident Kay Lebowitz, who has served on several area boards, observed Sunday that long-term care facilities are under a great deal of financial strain. Bangor Nursing and Rehab, she said, is “surprisingly stable.” Contracting with the private company makes perfect sense, she said, if it enables the facility to continue offering essential services.

Lebowitz, 91, fell and fractured her pelvis in September and spent several weeks at BNRC getting back on her feet. Her experience was a good one, she said.

“I did feel they took an interest in their patients,” she said. “The physical therapists were very diligent in getting you to do what you were supposed to do without being demanding or putting too much pressure on you.” Lebowitz said she would recommend the facility to anyone in need of nursing care or rehabilitation.

“You’re not going to be unhappy there,” she said.