Opinion: Big fish eats little fish—warning for rural hospitals

Residents and town officials of the Boothbay peninsula in Maine are outraged at the announcement that they will lose their emergency room and hospital of St. Andrews hospital, and that this was presented by Lincoln County Healthcare (LCH) as a fait accompli, with no discussion with the community. The selectmen from the towns and state Representative Bruce MacDonald have put together a task force to explore alternatives to closing the region’s emergency room. Their efforts are being stymied by the lack of transparency from LCH, with their withholding data from the community task force as well as recommendations from their consultants, but especially by time constraints.