Courtesy / Northern Light
James Rohrbaugh, Northern Light
June 16, 2025
As Congress contemplates health care cuts, Northern Light looks to ensure sustainability
Two Northern Light hospitals are on a list of 338 hospitals nationwide said to be at risk of reduced services, conversion or closing if Congress cuts funding for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
Northern Light said neither hospital is being considered for closure, but acknowledged financial pressures across the system and the health care industry overall.
The list was included in a June 12 letter from a group of U.S. senators to the Trump administration and Republican leaders in Congress.
The list cited Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle, now called Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital, and Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth, now Northern Light Maine Coast Hospital.
“Discussions on the federal level to reduce reimbursement and eligibility will have impacts on our ability to be sustainable,” James Rohrbaugh, executive vice president and CFO for Northern Light Health, told Mainebiz.
As with many rural hospitals, both hospitals are dependent on governmental funding given the high number of Medicare and MaineCare patients, he continued.
“Any reductions in reimbursement will certainly affect health care programs and services across Maine — and not only at Northern Light Health but with other health care providers in our state as well,” he said. “The ongoing financial challenges are also impacting the ability of rural providers to fund replacement capital in a technology-driven industry.”
The list was based on an analysis by the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
The analysis found that a number of hospitals nationwide meet one or both of two financial criteria: the hospital is in the top 10% Medicaid payer mix of rural hospitals across the country, the hospital has experienced three consecutive years of negative total margin.
“Substantial cuts to Medicaid or Medicare payments could increase the number of unprofitable rural hospitals and elevate their risk of financial distress,” the analysis says. “In response, hospitals may be forced to reduce service lines, convert to a different type of health care facility, or close altogether.”
Rohrbaugh said Northern Light Health has been working to make changes necessary to ensure sustainability for the future, including reducing administrative costs, consolidating services and locations, addressing reimbursement and denials with commercial payors and establishing partnerships to drive efficiencies and reduce costs.
“Because Northern Light Health is a system, there are opportunities to share costs across the system,” he said.
He continued, “While the work we are doing at Northern Light Health is driving improved results, there is still much work left to do to achieve sustainability in rural health care. Given that 66% of our reimbursement is from governmental programs, many of the services that we provide lose money.”
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