St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston to close ICU as part of realignment

File Photo / Courtesy St. Mary's via Facebook St. Mary's Health System, including the 233-bed medical center shown here, is closing its ICU.

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By Laurie Schreiber

A year after St. Mary's Health System cut 31 jobs and cut hours back for others in an effort to stem rising financial losses, Lewiston's second-largest health care provider last week said it would close its intensive care unit.

Low patient volumes forced closure, which is scheduled to occur by the end of this year, according to a news release. The system said it is also eyeing inpatient capacity to better reflect demand for lower acuity services.

“Our goal is to provide care that has the greatest impact on the health and well-being of our community,” said Winfield Brown, the system’s president.

The system said the closure is part of a larger plan to enhance care offerings, focusing on the most critical needs across the Lewiston-Auburn community.

The plan will prioritize primary care, behavioral health, outpatient services, elder care and emergency and urgent care, while realigning existing services to better reflect community demand.

St. Mary’s primary service lines are routine care, outpatient services and behavioral health that are centered on short-stay admissions and outpatient care.

Other changes include integrating psychiatric support into primary care practices and launching Lewiston-Auburn’s first day hospital program in 2025 to bridge gaps between inpatient and outpatient behavioral care.

The system said it aims to retain every employee and will work to transition any impacted employees into new roles.

The system brought in 39 new providers this year and said it has plans to hire several additional primary and virtual care providers in the coming months.

St. Mary's has downsized over the past decade in response to economic pressures.

In July 2022, St. Mary's Regional Medical Center closed its maternity and women's health unit, citing a decline in area birth rates. The hospital transferred patients and their medical records to Central Maine Medical Center, a mile away in downtown Lewiston.

Founded in 1888, what is now St. Mary's was the first hospital in Lewiston-Auburn and the first Catholic hospital in Maine. The medical center is the fourth-largest hospital in the state, according to the 2023 Mainebiz Book of Lists, after 250-bed Central Maine Medical Center.