Years in the making, Northern Light, Mayo Regional merger is inked

File photo / Maureen Milliken Mayo Regional Hospital, in Dover-Foxcroft, has completed its merger with Northern Light Health.

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By William Hall

Over a year since Mayo Regional Hospital floated a proposal to join Northern Light Health — and several years after the two began discussing closer ties — the deal is done.

Mayo, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Dover-Foxcroft, and Northern Light, the state’s second-largest health care system, on Sunday completed their merger, according to a news release. On Monday, Northern Light President and CEO Michelle Hood and Mayo President and CEO Marie Vienneau were scheduled to hold a press conference at the hospital.

The news caps off a complex process that included public votes, an act of the Legislature, board approvals and a green light from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

The Mayo board initially approved the merger in February 2019, citing the hospital’s “progressively worsening financial situation.” A second vote was also required, as well as votes by the Northern Light board.

Because Mayo was owned by a quasi-governmental hospital administrative district — the only one left in Maine — the merger also required the OK’s of 13 communities that comprised the district.

Voters in Abbot, Atkinson, Bradford, Dexter, Dover-Foxcroft, Guilford, Milo, Parkman, Sebec and Willimantic all approved the merger at their town meetings, with the final vote taken last May. Cambridge was the only town to have voted against the merger.

The public ownership also meant that the merger required a change in the hospital’s state charter. The Legislature approved that change last June, and it was subsequently signed by Gov. Janet Mills.

In addition, the merger required a certificate of need from the state, which DHHS granted in January.

In Monday’s news release, Vienneau said, “Mayo not only provides local care, but as the region’s largest employer, it is vital to the rural economy of Piscataquis County. As a member of Northern Light Health, we have found a better path forward for our patients, our employees, and our community.”

Hood said, “We are pleased to welcome Mayo’s leaders, board, and employees into our organization as we work together toward a common goal to preserve rural health care services in this region of the state.”

While the transaction is complete, both CEOs said much operational work will be necessary over the year to fully integrate Mayo into Northern Light Health.

With the merger, Mayo becomes the 10th hospital within the Northern Light system, which also operates primary care clinics, nursing homes and other facilities from Presque Isle to Portland, and employs over 12,000 people.

MaineHealth is the state’s largest health care system, with 11 hospitals and 19,000 employees.

Completion of the merger comes just days after Northern Light sold a historic property of its 230-bed Mercy Hospital in Portland. Mercy is consolidating its operations at a second campus on Fore River Parkway in the city, but will remain at 144 State St. while expansion of the other site is underway.