Judge OKs Mid Coast purchase of Parkview hospital

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Portland approved a plan that will allow Mid Coast Health Services to purchase the assets of Parkview Adventist Medical Center in Brunswick for approximately $7.87 million, including fulfilling certain outstanding financial obligations from Parkview and investing $3 million over three years at the Parkview campus.

The Bangor Daily News reported that Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Peter Cary signed off on the plan Thursday, which sets the stage for the consolidation of medical services between the two formerly competing health care systems in Brunswick. Board members of the 55-bed Seventh Day Adventist hospital approved on Wednesday Mid Coast’s purchase offer over a competing purchase proposal submitted by Lewiston-based Central Maine Healthcare Corp.

The newspaper reported that under Mid Coast’s purchase plan, CMHC would be paid $3.5 million out of the proceeds of the sale to Mid Coast if the court upholds CMHC’s claims to debts from Parkview.

CMHC spokesman Chuck Gill told the newspaper the Lewiston-based health care system “is very disappointed” with the judge’s approval of the sale of Parkview to Mid Coast.

Mid Coast plans to rehire all of Parkview’s 190 employees and management and appropriately credentialed physicians and will preserve Parkview’s religious affiliation with the Northern New England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

When Parkview’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and the proposed sale to Mid Coast was first announced in mid-June, the two Brunswick health systems indicated that they would consolidate as the Mid Coast – Parkview Health System. Those plans involve the consolidation of inpatient and emergency services on the Mid Coast Hospital campus east of Cook's Corner and the utilization of the Parkview campus several miles away for physician practices, a walk-in clinic, as well as radiology, laboratory, ambulatory testing and surgery, oncology, hematology, infusion services, physical, occupational and speech therapy services, and community health and wellness programs.

Update (8/27/2015): Mid Coast announced on Wednesday, Aug. 26, that Parkview's walk-in clinic will close on Sept. 8 and that Mid Coast's walk-in clinic has been expanded to accommodate more patients, according to the Bangor Daily News.

“This was a clinically-driven decision made by our physician team and nurse leadership to ensure delivery of the highest quality care with emphasis on patient satisfaction and safety,” Jay Mullen, director of emergency services at Mid Coast Hospital, told the newspaper in an email.