UNE reconsiders shedding health clinics
The University of New England is backing away from plans to turn over operation of its health clinics to Southern Maine Medical Center, after issuing layoff notices to 90 employees this summer.
The school could continue running the clinics, which serve about 20,000 patients at locations in Portland, Saco and Biddeford, the Portland Press Herald reported. Marc Hahn, the new dean of UNE's College of Osteopathic Medicine and senior vice president for health affairs, told the paper he will assess future management of University Health Care over the next three months.
The news came as a relief to SMMC, which had been scrambling to determine if it could take over the clinics by UNE's Nov. 2 deadline. UNE President Danielle Ripich wanted to drop the clinics because she said the school could no longer afford the $500,000 to $2 million losses they incurred each year. The unexpected news angered patients, medical faculty members and others who worried that the move would hurt patients and undermine the medical college's focus on osteopathic medicine, the paper reported.
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