Lincoln County Healthcare seeks to merge hospitals

BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine — Despite plans to close St. Andrews Hospital's emergency room in October, Lincoln County Healthcare will seek to retain the hospital's critical access status and $5 million in federal funding through a merger of St. Andrews and Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta. Citing low patient counts and other financial concerns, Lincoln County Healthcare plans to close the hospital's emergency room — the only one on the Boothbay peninsula — in October. After the planned closure, the hospital would become an urgent care center. James Donovan, president and chief executive officer of Lincoln County Healthcare, said Monday that the proposed merger would create a "two-campus, critical access hospital" with one emergency room, at Miles Memorial, Donovan said.