LINCOLN – A Penobscot Valley Hospital emergency room physician who failed a substance abuse test has had his license to practice medicine suspended.

Andrew J. Fletcher, M.D., of Dover-Foxcroft was notified on April 27 that the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine has suspended his license based on a positive test result for substance abuse. The substance was not made public.

Fletcher first came to PVH in 2006, and at that time, he had a valid medical license from the state of Maine and was well-recommended, the hospital’s chief executive officer David A. Shannon said in a press release issued Tuesday afternoon. PVH was aware that he was in the Physician Health Program and that there was a periodic testing component to that system, he noted. The program helps professionals who suffer from alcohol, chemical dependency, senility, or other illnesses.

“In this case, the program was successful in pinpointing a problem,” Shannon said in the release. “Dr. Fletcher notified me last week of this situation and has requested a leave of absence. I really like Andrew, and it is very unfortunate that he had this setback. The PVH family stands in support of him and will do whatever we can to assist him and his family at this difficult time.”

Fletcher had been disciplined in 2004 based on habitual substance abuse, according to Don Sprague, assistant executive director of the state board. Sprague declined Tuesday to identify what substance the abuse involved. At the time of his discipline in 2004, Fletcher agreed to participate in substance abuse monitoring for five years, he said.

Since the positive test result is a violation of his prior discipline, an adjudicatory hearing will be held within 60 days to discuss Fletcher’s permanent license status, according to a press release issued by the licensure board.

All board disciplinary actions are reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank, the Health Integrity and Protection Data Bank, and the Federation of State Medical Boards Action Data Bank. These reports are regularly reviewed by every state licensing board in the country, the release stated.

Six physicians and three public members who are appointed by the governor sit on the board. The board is charged with protecting the health and welfare of the public by verifying the qualifications of physicians to practice and disciplining physicians for unprofessional conduct and incompetence, according to the release.

Any resident can request an investigation of a physician or physician assistant by contacting the board office at 287-3608, by letter, or by visiting the board’s Web site at www.docboard.org/me/mehome.htm.