February 10, 2025
Business

More information sought on $252M EMMC plan

BANGOR – Eastern Maine Medical Center officials currently are reviewing a 117-page document from the state Certificate of Need Unit requesting more information on the proposed $252 million State Street campus expansion, hospital spokeswoman Jill McDonald said Wednesday.

She explained that the review unit for the State Department of Health and Human Services hasn’t recommended that the commissioner reject the application, along with similar requests from Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, but that it wants more information before making a final decision.

“They look at our responses to the concerns that they brought up to our initial application and then they have the opportunity to reassess,” McDonald said.

The hospital submitted an application to the state for a certificate of need for the project in December. It calls for a combination of renovations to existing space as well as new construction for inpatient care space that hospital officials say will ease overcrowding and alleviate the problem of patients having to wait for beds.

The hospital currently is licensed by the state to operate 411 inpatient beds, but has space for only about 350, according to literature provided previously by hospital officials.

The project is expected to take at least two years to complete.

McDonald said she wasn’t ready to talk about specific items that the review committee has asked for, but a report in Lewiston’s Sun Journal newspaper said questions about cost were among the items of concern.

“I’m not ready to talk specifics yet,” McDonald said. “There are several points that we need to address.”

EMMC had to go through the same process last spring when it proposed relocating its outpatient imaging center.

“Supplemental material was enough to convince them to recommend approval,” McDonald said. “We hope that’s what will happen in this case.”

adolloff@bangordailynews.net

990-8130

Correction: A story on Page A5 of Thursday’s paper should have stated that the review unit for the Department of Health and Human Services has recommended that the commissioner deny Eastern Maine Medical Center’s Certificate of Need to expand its inpatient care space. This is the initial finding and EMMC has until June 11 to issue its response and provide more information before the committee and commissioner make the final decision.

Have feedback? Want to know more? Send us ideas for follow-up stories.

comments for this post are closed

You may also like