Courtesy / InterMed
Roger Poitras is the CEO of InterMed P.A., a large medical group based in Portland.
Updated: August 17, 2023
InterMed plans to move surgery center to the Downs in Scarborough
Courtesy / Davis
InterMed serves primary care patients at 84 Marginal Way in Portland, shown here, as well as locations in South Portland and Yarmouth.
InterMed, the physician group whose logo emblazons a 10-story Portland tower where the practice is headquartered, will expand to Scarborough with the relocation of an outpatient surgery center to the Downs complex.
Plans call for a facility there with two operating rooms and 10,000 to 12,000 square feet of space, InterMed CEO Roger Poitras told Mainebiz in an email. The current surgery center, at the top of the 84 Marginal Way building, is about two-thirds that size.
Last week, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services notified InterMed the move would not require a certificate-of-need approval, clearing a potential obstacle for the project.
"The project has been in its very early stages and now, with this green light from the state, we will be able to delve into the details," said Poitras.
He described the future surgery center as "a custom-built facility that is more spacious and comfortable." It will be part of a multi-use development at the Downs, a growing 500-acre complex of housing and business space on the grounds of a former harness racing track in Scarborough.
Details, construction costs and the exact location aren't yet being disclosed. InterMed will convert the vacated facility, which has been used for ambulatory surgery since 2008, into additional clinical and office space.
The surgery center currently employs 15 full-time staff, as well as surgeons and anesthesiologists.
Founded in 1993, InterMed is Maine's largest physician-owned medical practice, with 90 doctors, 700 other staff and 100,000 patients. In addition to the Portland headquarters, it has branches in South Portland and Yarmouth.
Poitras estimates outpatient surgery services at InterMed have increased 12% to 18% over the past few years. That's consistent with growth elsewhere.
Worldwide, investments in outpatient surgery centers are expected to reach $117 billion by 2027, up from $75.7 billion in 2020, according to a report from research firm Global Market Insights. Driving the trend has been an increase in the number of procedures approved to be conducted in those settings, as well as growing patient demand and the usually lower costs of outpatient surgery.
In Maine, several new outpatient surgery centers have opened in recent years, but there are barely more than a dozen statewide. Based partly on such data, research firm Pivotal Analytics last year identified the Portland-South Portland area as one of the top 20 markets in the U.S. with large growth opportunities for the centers.
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