MaineHealth, a Portland-based health care network that includes Maine Medical Center in Portland, Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport and Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast, is seeking to open retail pharmacies at two of its hospitals.
According to a report in the Bangor Daily News, MaineHealth has notified the Maine Department of Health and Human Services that it would like to operate retail pharmacies that would be open to consumers and not just hospital patients at Maine Medical Center in Portland and Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast.
Richard Linehan, MaineHealth’s director of planning, was seeking guidance from the department over whether the network’s plan would require Certificate of Need review and approval, the newspaper reported.
A Maine Medical spokesman told the newspaper the proposed retail pharmacies would make it easier for patients being discharged to fill their prescriptions, and it would provide a new revenue stream for the hospital.